Think Like a Systems Leader: Seeing Beyond Individual Problems

“You cannot understand a system by looking at its parts. You must look at the relationships between the parts.” — Russell Ackoff

Good leaders become good problem solvers.

Great leaders become great system observers.

The Next Step in Systems Leadership

Last week, I shared one of the biggest lessons I've learned through years of working with multilingual learners. The greatest barriers to improvement aren't usually found inside the multilingual learner program. They are embedded throughout the educational system.

That realization changed not only how I approached multilingual learner success—it changed how I thought about leadership itself.

I stopped asking,

"How do we solve this problem?"

I started asking,

"What systems are interacting to produce this result?"

That subtle shift fundamentally changed how I saw schools.

I began realizing that almost nothing in education exists in isolation. Instruction influences assessment. Assessment influences intervention. Leadership shapes teacher collaboration. Professional learning influences classroom practice. Scheduling affects access to instruction. Family engagement impacts attendance, achievement, and trust.

Schools aren't one system.

They're a collection of interconnected systems.

Once I began seeing schools this way, I found myself asking entirely different questions—and finding very different solutions. What I didn't realize at the time was that I was developing one of the most important leadership competencies a school leader can possess: systems thinking.

Systems Thinking Is Learning to See Differently

Most school leaders are excellent problem solvers because leadership demands it. Every day presents a new challenge requiring immediate decisions, and successful leaders learn to respond quickly and effectively.

-5th grade reading achievement on their common assessments declined for the last unit.

-The office is full of students waiting for behavior conferences.

-Two more teachers called out sick today.

Our instinct is to solve the problem in front of us.

A systems thinker approaches those same situations differently.

Problem Solver	Systems Thinker
Reading scores declined. How do we raise scores?	What systems are consistently producing these results?
What is the best behavioral/discipline path for this student?	What conditions are creating an increase in student discipline needs?
How do I fill these teacher sub vacancies today?	Is there a broader pattern regarding teacher vacancies? Is there a system that would streamline how we respond?
How do I get the English department to have an effective meeting?	What structures, leadership behaviors, and supports are shaping collaboration?

Neither perspective is wrong.

In fact, effective leaders need both.

Problem solving helps us respond to today's challenges.

Systems thinking helps us prevent tomorrow's.

Good leaders become proficient problem-solvers. Great leaders are proficient problem-solvers, while also being effective system thingers.

I've come to think about systems thinking as moving through four increasingly deeper levels of observation.

Events

What happened?

Patterns

What keeps happening?

Relationships

What influences what?

Root Structures

What is our system designed to produce?

The deeper we move, the greater our influence over lasting improvement.

Systems Thinkers Look for Patterns

Most schools spend tremendous energy responding to events because that's where problems first appear. A systems thinker certainly notices those events, but doesn't stop there. Instead, they begin looking for repetition.

Instead of asking,

"Why did reading scores decline this year?"

they ask,

"Have we seen this pattern before?"

Instead of asking,

"Why are so many teachers overwhelmed?"

they ask,

"What keeps creating this experience?"

Instead of asking,

"Why didn't this initiative work?"

they ask,

"What keeps causing our initiatives to lose momentum?"

Patterns tell us we're probably looking at something much larger than an isolated event.

Systems Thinkers Look for Relationships

One of my favorite leadership questions is remarkably simple:

"What else is connected to this?"

Suppose a school is struggling with reading achievement. An event-focused leader may immediately begin evaluating curriculum. A systems thinker begins mapping relationships because outcomes in schools are almost never produced by one factor alone.

They begin asking questions like:

• How are PLCs functioning?

• What support are instructional coaches providing?

• How are assessments informing instruction?

• Does the master schedule provide sufficient instructional time?

• What professional learning have teachers received?

• How are principals reinforcing the work?

Rarely does one variable explain the outcome. It is the interaction between multiple variables that shapes results.

Systems Thinkers Look for Root Structures

Eventually, systems thinkers arrive at perhaps the most important leadership question:

"What is this system designed to produce?"

Every recurring outcome has structures underneath it.

Imagine a school where PLCs consistently fail to improve instruction. An event-focused leader might conclude teachers simply need more accountability. A systems thinker asks a different set of questions.

• Is there enough collaborative planning time?

• Do teams have meaningful data?

• Have teacher leaders been trained to facilitate collaborative inquiry?

• Do principals reinforce the work?

• Are teachers expected to make instructional decisions?

Trying to change people without changing structures often produces the same results.

Systems Thinkers Design Better Conditions

In my previous blog, I argued that one of leadership's most important responsibilities is designing the conditions that make improvement easier.

Systems thinking turns that idea into action.

Instead of asking,

"How do I get teachers to collaborate?"

systems thinkers ask,

"How do I design a system where collaboration naturally happens?"

Instead of asking,

"How do I get teachers to better support multilingual learners?"

they ask,

"What structures, coaching, leadership, and professional learning make that work possible?"

The goal shifts from changing people...

to designing systems that support people.

When we redesign the conditions, we often improve outcomes without asking people to simply work harder.

Systems Thinkers Consider Unintended Consequences

One of the challenges of leading complex organizations is that every improvement creates ripple effects elsewhere in the system. That's why systems thinkers pause before implementing solutions.

Adding intervention time may increase support...

while reducing access to Tier 1 instruction.

Increasing accountability may improve consistency...

while reducing innovation.

Mandating PLC agendas may improve compliance...

while reducing authentic dialogue.

No decision exists in isolation.

Great systems thinkers always ask,

"If we change this, what else changes?"

Systems Thinking Is a Leadership Competency

Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of systems thinking is that it isn't simply a personality trait. It is a leadership competency that can be intentionally developed. Kenneth Leithwood's research on Personal Leadership Resources identifies systems thinking as one of the core cognitive capacities that distinguish highly effective school leaders. Along with problem solving and knowledge of effective school and classroom conditions, systems thinking shapes how leaders make decisions because it helps them understand how different parts of the organization interact to influence teaching and learning.

That finding closely aligned with my own dissertation research.

As I studied highly effective principals, I found they spent much of their leadership day engaged in problem solving, prioritizing, strategic thinking, and systems thinking. They weren't simply reacting to issues as they arose. They were continually developing a theory of action about how different parts of the school interacted to produce results, and those cognitive processes shaped nearly every leadership decision they made.

The encouraging news is that these ways of thinking improve with practice.

Just as leaders become better problem solvers through experience, they can become better systems thinkers by intentionally looking beyond events and examining patterns, relationships, and structures.

Five Questions Systems Thinkers Ask

Like problem solving, systems thinking is a competency that develops over time. Every difficult leadership challenge becomes another opportunity to strengthen this way of thinking. The more intentionally we practice seeing beyond the immediate problem, the more naturally we begin recognizing the patterns, relationships, and structures that are shaping our results.

The next time you encounter a significant challenge, pause before jumping to solutions and ask yourself:

1. Is this an isolated event or part of a recurring pattern?

2. What other systems are influencing this outcome?

3. What relationships exist that I may not be considering?

4. If we make this change, what unintended consequences could it create elsewhere?

5. How can we redesign the conditions so the desired behaviors become easier and more likely?

These questions won't eliminate complexity or the potential need to address the immediate concern.

But they will help you see it more clearly. And, leaders who see systems more clearly make better decisions.

Looking Ahead

Next week, Christi Roberts and I will be presenting at the Joint NCTE–NCTM Conference on designing linguistically and culturally responsive MTSS.

Preparing for that session has reinforced something I've come to believe over years of working with schools.

-MTSS isn't simply an intervention framework.

-It's one of the clearest examples of systems thinking in action.

-Done well, MTSS intentionally aligns instruction, assessment, intervention, language development, leadership, and family engagement into one coherent system designed to improve outcomes for every learner.

In next week's blog, I'll explore what happens when we stop thinking about MTSS as another initiative and start thinking about it as a system intentionally designed to make great teaching—and great outcomes—more likely.

Reflection

Think about a challenge your school faced over the past year.

Rather than focusing on the problem itself, look beneath the surface.

What patterns, relationships, or organizational structures may have been producing that challenge all along?