[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Derek Cabrera, systems thinking, and DSRP

## Details

**Authors** Howard Silverman

**Year** 2012

**Publisher** Solving for Pattern (blog)

**Kind of work** article

**Discipline** Systems Science

**Kind of engagement** reach

[Read it](https://www.solvingforpattern.org/2012/09/25/derek-cabrera-systems-thinking-and-dsrp/)

## In authors' words

### Abstract

What is systems thinking? - the act of thinking itself, separate from other ways we might approach systems? "[I] set out to clarify the construct of systems thinking," writes educational theorist Derek Cabrera in his 2006 dissertation (pdf), "and to define it as a conceptual framework apart from systems science, systems theory, systems methods, and other perceived synonyms." Cabrera's approach takes systems thinking as a "cognitive endeavor," and distinguishes it from "knowledge-about-systems." Compare this approach, for example, with the recent "system praxis framework" diagram, developed by the International Council on Systems Engineering and the International Society for the Systems Sciences, which describes systems thinking as a "practice," rather than a cognitive act. Is Cabrera's insistence on a thinking-practice distinction helpful?

### What they set out to do (purpose)

A Solving for Pattern blog post examining Derek Cabrera's claim that systems thinking is a cognitive act — a construct apart from systems science, systems theory, and systems methods.

### What they found (results)

Set against the INCOSE/ISSS "systems praxis" framing of systems thinking as practice, the post asks whether Cabrera's distinction between thinking and knowledge-about-systems is helpful.

## Commentary

### In short

A post that explains and reflects on DSRP as a way of framing systems thinking for a general readership.

**Patterns it shows** D

**Added** 2026-08-13

**How to cite this** Howard Silverman (2012). Derek Cabrera, systems thinking, and DSRP. Solving for Pattern (blog).