About Postgraduate Diploma in Systems Thinking in Practice

This postgraduate diploma course develops your abilities to tackle complex messy situations. It provides you with the tools to challenge your approaches to complex problems; to consider the roles other people play; to assess how all the different components within that situation are related. It provides you with the skills to think more holistically and to work more collaboratively to avoid systemic failures. The discipline of systems thinking in practice will provide you with the tools and skills to take a more holistic view of situations and to work collaboratively to tackle problems and move towards effective solutions. This postgraduate diploma will give you new ways of thinking about and approaching a task or situation. Every person brings with them their own perspective, which means that we all see things in different ways. The first compulsory module for the qualification, Thinking strategically: systems tools for managing change (TU811) , focuses on understanding the nature of complex problem situations and the tools with which they can be tackled. Managing systemic change: inquiry, action and interaction (TU812) , the second compulsory module, shifts the emphasis to engaging with others in coming to a common language, common understanding and an agreed way to tackle complex problem situations. The module focuses on the social structures in which you live and work, your experiences of those working groups, communities of practice and networks. It enables you to develop your techniques of systemic inquiry, systemic action research, and social learning to extend your skills of project and programme management. You also study optional modules of your choice so there is the opportunity to pursue topics of personal or professional interest as a wider context for your systems thinking studies. Typically the options offered are in the fields of business and management, environmental management, development management, information systems and technology management.