Systems Thinking Orientation Assessment Framework (STOAF): Towards Identifying the Key Characteristics of the Systems Thinker and Understanding Their Prevalence in the Layperson

This research project sets out to attempt to answer a simple question: to what extent are systems thinking behaviours and attitudes prevalent in the layperson? It questions the extent to which systems thinking is essentially an academic construct for experiential learning, developed in response to life experiences. This research, undertaken using a triangulation of methods including storytelling, interviews and a quantitative survey, suggests that it may be possible to define the key orientations of the systems thinker, that it could be possible to test for ‘systems thinking orientation’ and that systems thinking education is not essential to the attainment of a ‘systemic outlook’.