What are the relationships between the parts ? Here is the real magic of systems theory analyzing the relationships between the parts and the impact of those relationships. Even HRD experts wonder if they ever get it complete. Indeed, good analysts are the first to admit their own shot comings. Yet, their belief is that in the struggle to understand a system, an analyst ends up with a better and more complete understanding of that system. Studying the relationships between parts forces analysts to dive deeper into understanding and explaining a system why it works and why it is not working. A simple example to illustrate this point is when enormous pressure is put on an employee only to find out if he or she can, in fact, perform a task. If the person can then perform task, expertise is not the missing piece. Thus, the idea that people are not performing tasks well, and therefore training is needed, is unacceptable until more is known. Workers may know to perform the task well but are unable to, or choose not to, for many reasons. You probably could name several from your own experience. There are numerous reasons in any system why things happen ad do not happen. Figuring these out requires more than superficial analysis or metaphoric analogies. Systems theory is basic.