Tool: How To Spot A Systemic Problem

By Maisie Jeffreys

The term ‘systemic challenge’ is used frequently across sectors, but it is often poorly defined. In practice, not every large or important problem is systemic.

This simple framework draws on systems thinking principles to help distinguish between challenges that are driven by underlying structures, incentives, relationships, and feedback loops, and those that are primarily operational, technical, or individual in nature.

It can be used as a practical tool to assess whether a problem is likely to require systems-level change rather than isolated interventions.