Systems thinking places less faith in planned, engineered solutions.
Systems come in many forms. Natural systems - rain forests, climate, biodiversity - exist all around the planet. Technical systems - communication networks, credit card companies, tsunami warning arrangements - are pervasive. So are human systems - families, groups, organizations, networks, partnerships, consortia. All these human systems are webby, non linear, entangled, wandering messes that do not lead themselves easily to traditional analysis and action.
Human systems are living organisms. They are more than just delivery systems or pieces of performance machinery. They come to life. They have an identity, a memory, patterns of behavior, disabilities, a life span and, in most cases, death.
Systems that do not change begin to decline and die. Almost all human systems are open to their context to a greater or lesser degree given the many interconnections in modern life.