The classification of a system as complex or simple will depend upon the observer of the system and upon the purpose he has for considering the syste… - Mike Jackson

In the modern systems approach, the concept "system" is used not to refer to things in the world but to a particular way of organising our thoughts about the world.

We consider the notion of "system" as an organising concept, before going on to look in detail at various systemic metaphors that may be used as a basis for structuring thinking about organisations and problem situations.

There exists an alternative to reductionism for studying systems. This alternative is known as holism. Holism considers systems to be more than the sum of their parts. It is of course interested in the parts and particularly the networks of relationships between the parts, but primarily in terms of how they give rise to and sustain in existence the new entity that is the whole whether it be a river system, an automobile, a philosophical system or a quality system.