Words have meaning. It sounds obvious, but all too often it’s easy to find ourselves debating someone without first confirming that everyone is talking about the same thing. When I communicate, I like to use very specific and well-defined terms unambiguously. This lexicon serves as a quick reference to the definitions shared across all posts on this site.
I make no assertion that these definitions are universal!
System ๐
A system
takes its definition from Donella Meadows’ Thinking in Systems:
A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something (function or purpose)
Critically, this definition does not restrict use of system
to a technical system. I will often refer to company
processes, team dynamics, etc. as systems.