Step by step guide to make a systems map

A systems map is a powerful visual tool that helps us understand the complexity of a system and how individual components are connected. Systems map allows us to talk about interrelations more easily as they are based on theoretical concepts of feedback processes. Feedback refers to the reciprocal flow of influence. Systems maps/diagrams help us trace these patterns of influence and can expose the patterns that repeat themselves for better or for worse. It also helps us to see what belongs together and what does not. Parts that belong together continuously affect each other over time and work towards a common goal. So how do you create a systems map? Here is a step by step guide to make a systems map. Since our interests are closely aligned with understanding complex social problems, we will focus on social problems.

The process

Developing a systems map relies on the thoroughness of knowledge about the problem. That is, when you have more information about the problem, your systems maps can be more detailed.
The best way to start once you enough information, is to write statements about how x leads to y and under what conditions. Take a look at the example below.
The next step is to separate information that belongs together and that does not.
Separate the contextual factors.
Establish connections between the major chunks that go together.
Gradually follow the chronological order to develop a narrative.
Create a systems diagram.
Refine the diagram till it accurately captures the story and provides information that is easier to understand.
Make sure you refine the diagram in such a manner that the connection between the main themes can be made explicit.

Creating systems map: An example

Here I am going to show you how to create a systems map. We are going to follow the steps listed above. We will collect all relevant information on our social problem embedded within the local context. I am interested in learning about the working poor in a developing country. These facts include contextual factors as well.

Collecting all relevant information

Poverty makes one a chronic victim of forces beyond one’s control.
With every misfortune, problems compound, leaving one increasingly powerless.
Only work is a steady source of income.
Most work is seasonal, irregular, or intermittent.
Land-based occupations like agriculture are the primary source of income.
Workers are busy from dawn to dusk during the working season.
There is less and less work for the home-based crafts worker because of mass-produced items available at a cheaper cost.
The rural economy is cash-based.
Work is intermittent and income is insufficient.
The poor are constantly in need of the services of local moneylenders.
Although illegal, informal lending is a thriving business.
The moneylender extracts an exorbitant rate of interest.
The banking structure is beyond the poor’s reach.
Income is used to provide food and shelter and paying off debt.
The only asset poor working people have is their own body.
Manual labor requires a strong and healthy body, but their bodies are often weak and overtaxed from overwork, inadequate food, and poor nutrition.
In times of illness, they still work but their productivity declines, and consequently, they earn a lot less money.
The physical nature of work needs more calories but there is not enough food.
Scarcity of drinking water leads to dehydration and water-borne diseases.
Malnutrition, compounded by diarrhea and dehydration, is a routine illness among the poor.
Public health care system unable to meet even basic medical needs.
Health care centers are located too far apart and health professionals are frequently absent.
Equipment is often out of order, and medicines are in short supply.
Houses are simple structures, consisting of mud and brick walls, thatched or tin roofs, and mud floors.
Houses are not always able to withstand the elements—damage during heavy rains, floods, or strong winds is common.
Amenities like electricity, running water, or toilets are hard to come by.
Social taboos, members of scheduled castes, and Dalits in certain communities are excluded from the usage of common resources.
The children have less time to study because they must use daylight hours to assist in household chores and adults.
Workday is short and income-earning opportunities are lost.
Young mothers work all through their pregnancy and seldom get supplemental nutrition for the fetus.

Once you have enough facts you need to arrange these facts in chronological order while carefully separating contextual factors and their effects. Below we arrange the above facts into a narrative that follows a chronological order. Remember it might take a few iterations to develop such a narrative, but it will come together.

Creating a narrative

In many developing countries the urban poor live in makeshift homes built of mud that cannot withstand heavy rain, floods, or strong winds making the margin between having a home and becoming homeless very narrow. Basic amenities like access to drinking water, electricity, or toilets are non-existent. No electricity means reduced productive time and shorter working days. Hence children are forced to work during the daytime. Most urban poor are unskilled and engage in hard physical labor that requires good health. After a full day’s work, they earn a day’s worth of food for their families. Such a hand-to-mouth existence is further compounded by inadequate food and nutrition. Illnesses are frequent. Once ill, they lose their income, food, and physical strength leading to decreased ability to work. The poor are under pressure to get back to work to make ends meet. This pressure to return to work precedes the need for medication or medical attention. Hence, relapses of the illness are common, leading to alienation, exploitation, and thereby falling into a downward spiral of poverty and despair. Further complicating the situation are the problems of the lack of adequate infrastructure, caste and religious discrimination, violent environments, and lack of governmental commitment to alleviate poverty.

Grouping and analyzing

Once the narrative is done, you can start identifying causal links (how x leads to y) and the contextual factors. Here is how I rearranged it.

Given facts

Urban poor are unskilled and engage in hard physical – probable starting point as it is a given fact and chronologically it makes sense to examine from this point
Physical labor requires good health – a necessary condition

Limiting contextual factors

Lack of electricity – shortens the working day
Heavy rain, floods, or strong winds further reduces the time available for work

Causal links

Physical labor can only be done during the day time – shorter day
Weather conditions, lack of electricity – also leads to shorter working day
Shorter time leads to hand to mouth existence – low income

Contextual factors

Lack of work opportunities (for unskilled workers), discrimination, violent environments exacerbate their ability to earn

Causal links

Shorter working day lead to lower-income
Children need to help to put food on the table – supplement income
Children in work lead to a lack of education for them
Lack of education leads to illiteracy
Illiteracy leads to a lack of skills and that leads to physical labor

Contextual factors

Lack of drinking water and toilets – poor sanitation

Causal links

Poor sanitation leads to lead to frequent illness

Necessary Condition

But physical labor required good health – so illness means loss of work

Causal links

Lack of work leads to no food to eat (hand to mouth living)
Inadequate food and nutrition also lead to frequent illness

Priority

The pressure to go back to work is a priority

Causal link

Working without medication leads to survival and supplemental income
Survival is short-lived as it leads to inadequate nutrition which leads to illness.
Illness leads to alienation and exploitation leading to further poverty.
Poverty leads to more illness

Creating a systems map

Once you have identified causal links and contextual factors, you can start working on developing a systems diagram. It makes most logical sense to arrange things that belong together to help visualize the feedback loops and interconnections that make the tacit connections explicit. To do this, I also highlighted a few words that appear to make a feedback loop. For example, physical labor appears in two causal chains. So it might be a connecting link or might make a feedback loop. Same for illness and supplemental income. Once I had this, I started making the diagram and refined it till it presented a nice little story. Just to be clear, the diagram produced here has gone through a few iterations to be arranged in this way. You can arrange it the way you want till it captures the narrative story and produces an easy to understand visual diagram of a complex social issue.

Bibliography

Senge, P. M. (1993). The fifth discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization. New York, NY: Currency Doubleday.

Senge, P. M., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R. B., & Smith, B. J. (2010). The fifth discipline fieldbook: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization. NewYork: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

Trivedi, C., & Misra, S. (2015). Relevance of systems thinking and scientific holism to social entrepreneurship. Journal of Entrepreneurship, 24(1), 37-62. doi:10.1177/0971355714560658

Wolstenholme, E. F. (2003). Towards the definition and use of a core set of archetypal structures in system dynamics. System Dynamics Review, 19(1), 7-26.

Cite this article (APA)

Trivedi, C. (2020, December 7). Step by step guide to make a systems map. ConceptsHacked. Retrieved from https://conceptshacked.com/guide-to-make-a-systems-map/