The Thinking Style That Makes Executives Say ‘This Person Gets It'

Hi there.

This weeks newsletter cuts close to my heart.

Ive been ‘doing’ systems thinking for years. Its just the way my mind works - breaking stuff down into interlinking components. Its how I design solutions, build apps, build business process and yes - of course - build BI and Analytics teams. Well - this is one form of systems thinking anyway.

There is a neat logical order to how everything flows, interlinks, affects each other, is ordered, sequenced, feeds back etc etc.

But thats not what the newsletter is about - its being SEEN to be thinking this way.

Could Being Too Good at What You Do Be a Silent Career Staller?

I wonder how many times this plays out: The people who naturally think systemically can get overlooked for leadership roles because they make it look effortless. And dont show their thinking..

Your colleagues see your elegant solutions and think "wow, they're so technical." Your manager sees your process improvements and thinks "great, they're really organised." But nobody's connecting the dots to realise you're operating at a different strategic level.

This could be a career inflection point. 

The moment you start articulating your systems thinking is the moment you stop being undervalued.

The Pattern You Should Break

Think about your last few project presentations. Maybe they went something like this:

• You presented a comprehensive solution that addressed multiple interconnected issues

• You anticipated potential problems and built in safeguards

• You designed processes that would scale and adapt over time

All great systems thinking. All completely invisible to your audience.

Because here's what your executives heard: "This person is really thorough and thinks ahead." What they should have heard: "This person thinks strategically and can navigate complex organisational challenges."

The data professionals who get promoted aren't necessarily better systems thinkers than you. They're just better at making their systems thinking visible and valuable to decision-makers.

The ARTICULATE Framework: Making Your Systems Thinking Visible

You already have the systems thinking skills. Now you need to make them impossible to ignore.

Ive cooked up how:

(Use one, three or all of them, but please - think about incorporating these into your repertoire)

A - Announce Your Approach

Stop hiding your methodology. Lead with it

Action step: Start every project presentation with: "I'm taking a systems approach to this problem, which means I'm looking at [X interconnected factors] and how they influence each other."

Example: Instead of diving into your churn analysis, open with: "I'm approaching this churn problem systemically, examining how our pricing, product complexity, customer success processes, and competitive landscape create interconnected dynamics that drive customer behavior."

R - Reveal Your Mental Model

Make your thinking process visible. Show people how you see the bigger picture.

Action step: Include a "systems map" in every presentation—a visual that shows how different elements connect and influence each other.

Example: Create a diagram showing how pricing decisions affect customer expectations, which influence support ticket volume, which impacts customer success capacity, which affects retention rates.

T - Translate Complexity Into Strategy

Position your comprehensive thinking as strategic leadership, not just thoroughness.

Action step: Frame your multi-faceted solutions as "strategic interventions" rather than "comprehensive recommendations."

Example: "My strategic intervention targets three leverage points in our customer retention system..." instead of "I found three different issues we need to address..."

I - Identify Your Unique Value

Explicitly connect your systems approach to business outcomes that matter to leadership.

Action step: Quantify the value of your systems thinking. How much time, money, or risk did your approach save compared to a linear solution?

Example: "By taking a systems approach, we avoided the typical 6-month implementation cycle and $200K in rework costs that come from addressing these issues sequentially."

C - Connect to Leadership Competencies

Link your systems work to recognised leadership skills like strategic thinking, change management, and stakeholder alignment.

Action step: Use leadership language to describe your systems work. "Stakeholder alignment," "change management," "strategic coordination," "organisational design."

Example: "This systems solution required strategic coordination across four departments and change management for three different user groups—skills I've developed through my systems approach to problem-solving."

U - Uncover Patterns Others Miss

Highlight insights that only emerge from systems thinking—the connections others don't see.

Action step: Always include a "systems insight" in your presentations—something that's only visible when you look at the whole picture.

Example: "The systems view revealed that our retention problem isn't actually about product features—it's about the mismatch between our acquisition strategy and our onboarding process."

L - Lead the Implementation

Position yourself as the natural leader for systems-level solutions.

Action step: Volunteer to coordinate cross-functional implementation. Your systems understanding makes you the obvious choice to lead complex initiatives.

Example: "Given the cross-departmental nature of this solution, I'd like to lead the implementation coordination to ensure all system components work together effectively."

A - Adapt and Evolve

Showcase your ability to modify solutions as systems change—a key leadership competency.

Action step: Build "systems monitoring" into every solution. Show how you'll track system health and adapt as conditions change.

Example: "I've designed monitoring dashboards that track not just our primary metrics, but the system indicators that would signal when we need to adapt our approach."

T - Teach Others

Establish yourself as the systems thinking expert who can develop this capability in others.

Action step: Offer to train your team or other departments on systems approaches. Teaching positions you as a thought leader.

Example: "I'd be happy to run a workshop on systems thinking for the broader analytics team—this approach could improve how we tackle complex business problems across all our projects."

E - Elevate Every Conversation

Use your systems perspective to contribute strategically in meetings and discussions.

Action step: In every meeting, ask at least one systems question: "How does this connect to...?" or "What's the broader impact on...?"

Example: When someone proposes a quick fix, ask: "How does this solution fit into our broader customer experience system? Are there any unintended consequences we should consider?"

Your 5-Day Systems Visibility Challenge

This week, make your existing systems thinking impossible to ignore:

Day 1: Pick a current project and create a systems map showing how different elements connect.

Day 2: Reframe your project summary using strategic language ("strategic intervention," "systems approach," "organisational coordination").

Day 3: Identify one systems insight from your work—a pattern only visible from the whole-picture view. This may take a little longer than you think.

Day 4: Connect your systems work to leadership competencies. What leadership skills did you demonstrate?

Day 5: Offer to teach others about systems thinking. Position yourself as the expert who can develop this capability.

The Bottom Line

You already have the systems thinking skills that separate leaders from individual contributors. You just need to make them visible.

Every day you present great systems work without articulating it as strategic leadership is a day your competition gets closer to that promotion you deserve.

The leaders getting promoted in 2025 aren't necessarily better systems thinkers than you. They're just better at making their systems thinking visible and valuable to decision-makers.

Your choice: Keep letting your systems thinking go unrecognised, or start positioning it as the strategic leadership capability it actually is.

Best,

Tom