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Arbitrated Section

No. 24 (2026): Economía Creativa (noviembre - abril)

From General Systems Theory to Designerly Thinking: a Genealogy

DOI
https://doi.org/10.46840/ec.2026.24.800
Submitted
July 21, 2026
Published
2026-09-09

Abstract

The article analyzes the genealogy of systems thinking in relation to design, tracing the path from Von Bertalanffy’s General Systems Theory to the concept of "design thinking", as a synergy of four cognitive cores: critical, strategic, systemic, and creative. Departing from conventional narratives regarding this evolution, the text poses a central question: who holds the epistemic authority to diagnose a human activity system and identify where to intervene? It reviews the perspectives of Rittel and Webber, Checkland, Buchanan, and Kim, alongside Meadows’s formalization and its influence on the work of Sevaldson, Jones, and Irwin, while contrasting these with Ison’s objection. The theoretical framework argues that no single cognitive core resolves this objection in isolation; rather, it is resolved through their synergy, energized by the creative core. The Mapatón CDMX case study illustrates this thesis, demonstrating how epistemic authority was collectively redistributed. The article concludes that, in design for complexity, such authority is neither granted *a priori* nor discovered—it is created.

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