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

# Thinking Holistically: The Implicit Use of DSRP and Systems Thinking Models

## Details

**Authors** Gibson

**Year** 2024

**Publisher** Doctoral paper by Rachel Shaver Gibson, posted by Villages in Partnership

**Kind of work** article

**Discipline** Business & Management

**Kind of engagement** applications

[Read it](https://villagesinpartnership.org/thinking-holistically-the-implicit-use-of-dsrp-and-systems-thinking-models-by-rachel-gibson/)

## In authors' words

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

A doctoral paper posted by Villages in Partnership, a nonprofit working on poverty reduction in Malawi, examining its own decision-making through DSRP.

### What they found (results)

The organization already applies the four patterns implicitly, without naming them — which the paper offers as evidence that the rules operate as universal patterns rather than as a methodology someone adopts.

## Commentary

### In short

Applies the DSRP model (Cabrera & Cabrera 2018) as an analytic lens to map how a poverty-focused nonprofit in Malawi makes decisions, working each of the four rules through interview evidence and DSRP maps.

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

**Added** 2026-08-14

**How to cite this** Gibson (2024). Thinking Holistically: The Implicit Use of DSRP and Systems Thinking Models. Doctoral paper by Rachel Shaver Gibson, posted by Villages in Partnership.