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

# Cornell University Business School Executive Education Course in Systems Thinking

## Details

**Authors** Cornell University

**Year** 2021-2026

**Publisher** Cornell University

**Kind of work** course

**Discipline** Systems Science

**Secondary disciplines** Business & Management

**Reading level** beginner

**Kind of engagement** applications

[Read it](cornell.edu)

## In authors' words

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

Cornell Executive Education incorporated strategic and systemic thinking into leadership development for organizations and executives. An official Cornell SC Johnson College of Business overview describes customized executive education designed to build systems-thinking capability, including an engagement focused specifically on strengthening the systems-thinking capabilities of engineering leaders. Cornell’s related eCornell curriculum explicitly teaches DSRP—Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, and Perspectives—as a framework for understanding and solving complex organizational problems.

### What they found (results)

Cornell presents systems thinking as a practical leadership capability for operating in complex organizations and uncertain environments. The DSRP curriculum teaches participants to challenge assumptions and biases, reveal hidden relationships, anticipate unintended consequences, organize complex information, consider alternative perspectives, and develop more innovative and adaptive solutions. Related courses extend the framework into organizational design, leadership, collaboration, analytical reasoning, and emotional intelligence.

## Commentary

### In short

Executive Education chose Cabrera's DSRP as the basis of their executive training in systems thinking

### In more detail

Cornell Executive Education describes “strategic and systemic thinking” as one of four major areas in which it develops customized learning programs for organizations. These programs combine online and in-person instruction and are designed to embed systems, strategic, and critical thinking into leadership practice. The associated eCornell systems-thinking curriculum develops these skills across a sequence of courses covering complex-problem framing, the four DSRP rules, systems modeling, analytical and emotional intelligence, organizational design, and systems leadership. In the DSRP course specifically, executives practice making distinctions, organizing information into part-whole systems, identifying underlying relationships, and deliberately examining multiple perspectives.

### Response

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business built its executive systems thinking training on DSRP, teaching participants to surface assumptions, reveal hidden relationships and anticipate unintended consequences.

**Patterns it shows** D, S, R, P

**How to cite this** Cornell University (2021-2026). Cornell University Business School Executive Education Course in Systems Thinking. Cornell University.