Modern systems theory, bound up with computers and equations, hides the fact that it traffics in truths known at some level by everyone. It is often possible, therefore, to make a direct translation from systems jargon to traditional wisdom.

• What is the system in question and how are we defining what belongs to the system and what does not?


• What is the wider context that the system in question operates in?


• What are the key agents whose interactions and relationships define the system structure and drive the system’s