Look closely at any organisation, be it a construction site, corporate office, or manufacturing plant, you'll find not isolated people or departments, but interacting systems: networks of relationships, processes, and feedback loops that constantly shape each other.
Ludwig von Bertalanffy, an Austrian biologist, first developed General Systems Theory (GST) in the 1940s and 1950s. He originally applied it to biological organisms, arguing that living systems are open systems meaning they exchange energy, information, and matter with their environment to maintain balance and adapt to change.
Systems Theory teaches that no part of an organisation operates in isolation. Every action or decision creates ripples that influence the whole. For leaders, this means that culture, performance, safety, and wellbeing aren't separate priorities. They are interdependent systems that either reinforce or erode one another.
A system's health depends on its permeability to feedback. More specifically, its ability to receive and respond to input from within and outside its boundaries. Permeable systems allow information, experience, and emotion to flow freely, which builds trust and adaptability. Rigid, closed systems resist feedback, defend norms, and lose the capacity to evolve.
Every organisation is an ecosystem of overlapping systems:
- Operational systems: work design, processes, and procedures.
- Relational systems: communication, trust, and team dynamics.
- Leadership systems: tone-setting, accountability, and decision-making.
- Safety systems: policies, risk controls, and behavioural expectations.
- Learning systems: feedback loops, coaching, and error management.
- Cultural systems: shared language, stories, and values.
When one system weakens, for instance, when fear replaces trust, it distorts the rest. Information stalls, mistakes are hidden, and innovation slows.
Healthy systems, by contrast, have clarity, consistency, and connection. Information flows, feedback is welcomed, and people feel safe to speak up and take ownership.
Brené Brown describes healthy workplaces as built on courage, connection, and vulnerability. People feel safe to be seen and heard without fear of shame or punishment.
Unhealthy systems run on fear, blame, and control. They silence voices, reward compliance over curiosity, and slowly drain energy.
About the Author
Jamie is a psychologist and senior facilitator at GYST with over 30 years’ experience. Drawing on a clinical psychology foundation and 14 years specialising in organisational work, he helps leaders strengthen trust, care and psychological safety. Jamie has partnered with mining, transport, construction, utilities, manufacturing and service organisations, delivering board briefings, executive coaching and practical workshops. Known for calm, evidence-based guidance and engaging facilitation, he turns research into usable habits that lift safety leadership, safety culture and day-to-day performance.
