Systems Thinkers see things in context with other things - contingent and noncontingent things - intuitively, in a seeming leap that makes no sense on the face of it, but which, when you understand what drives that intuition, that seemingly fanciful leap, that putting together of sometimes unseen and unanticipated pieces, makes absolute, brilliant and wonderful miraculous sense.

A mouthful? Yes, but only at first glance.

One very successful man once said to me, “Michael, no matter how successful I have been, I could only be so one step at a time, by doing one thing, and then doing another thing, and then another, Step One, Step Two, Step Three. While you, on the other hand,” he said to me, his passion for the subject obviously building up, “you seem to jump immediately to the end without seeming to take any of the steps which are so necessary to me. Frankly,” he said, obviously meaning it, “you drive me crazy! What is it that makes it possible for you to do that? ”

I laughed at his obvious frustration, not unkindly, but because I knew what he was saying to be true. That my seeming “genius” for seeing the unseeable so clearly was really only a result of my passionate interest in seeing that way. I felt strongly that the only way he could develop that part of himself (if he really wanted to, that is) was to become as passionately interested in doing so as I was, while, at the same time, giving up his intense need, for a time at least, to being so damned successful at everything he did.

In short, he had to nurture the part of himself that wanted to create something for no reason whatsoever other than because it interested him, as opposed to because it furthered his interest. That’s what the entrepreneur in us does, as opposed to the technician. The entrepreneur invents stuff; the technician does stuff. Too much doing makes Jack a dull boy. But there’s more to it than just that.

The entrepreneur sees things telescopically; the technician sees things microscopically. Both are necessary, of course, but each view of the world provides a completely different relationship with the world.

The Microscopic And The Telescopic

Now, look through a telescope. What do you see? You see a universe, expanding into the past and the present. You see worlds within worlds within worlds. You’re looking both at the present and at the past - you’re looking both at space and at time.

Interestingly, the vast expanse of space and time can easily look like what you see through a microscope. Isn’t that amazing?

It’s just that the one, the telescope, is so much more expansive than the microscope.

The entrepreneur is so much more expansive than the technician. The entrepreneur looks at the future, the present and the past all as one thing. That is what Systems Thinking enables one to do. As below, so above. Worlds within worlds within worlds. The magic of it, the unimaginable magic of it. That’s what happens when you look into a telescope.

Of course, that’s what happens when you look into a microscope, too. But, it’s the context of all that which is so fascinating. It’s the whole of it that’s so intriguing. It’s what Amazon.com, or Visa, or Starbucks, or Wal-Mart or Google must have looked like at the moment of vision, at the moment of inspiration, at the moment of seeing the biggest of things.

A system is a set of things, actions, ideas and information that interact with each other, and in so doing, alter other systems. In short, everything is a system. Ultimately, the systems you set into place will perform their duties, and free you to do the things you want to do.