Contextual thinking means thinking in terms of connectedness, context and relationships. There is another strand in systems thinking that is of equal importance. This second strand is process thinking. In the mechanistic framework of Cartesian science, there are fundamental structures, and then there are forces and mechanisms through which these interact, thus giving rise to processes. In systems science every structure is seen as the manifestation of underlying processes.
Systems thinking is always process thinking.
From the Parts to the Whole, in The Education Network Australian Education Network, Winter 1995.