In the past, managers typically took one part and focused on that. Then they moved all attention to another part. The problem was that an organization could, e.g., have wonderful departments that operate well by themselves but don't integrate well together. Consequently, the organization suffers as a whole. Now, more managers are recognizing the various parts of the organization, and, in particular, the interrelations of the parts, e.g., the coordination of central offices with other departments, engineering with manufacturing, supervisors with workers, etc.
Managers now focus more attention on matters of ongoing organization and feedback.
Managers now diagnose problems, not by examining what appear to be separate pieces of the organization, but by recognizing larger patterns of interactions. Managers maintain perspective by focusing on the outcomes they want from their organizations. One of the major breakthroughs in understanding the complex world of systems is systems theory. The application of this theory is called systems analysis. One of the tools of systems analysis is systems thinking.