Description of the Army’s systems thinking pilot on suicide prevention

The Army Resilience Directorate (ARD) wanted to explore a systems thinking approach for the integrated prevention of multiple harmful behaviors in Soldiers and asked CNA to execute a pilot focused on one such behavior: suicide. ARD selected experts from Bridgeway Partners to apply systems thinking methodologies to suicide prevention in the Army. CNA partnered with Bridgeway Partners to conduct a pilot program focused on suicide prevention. This program consisted of preparing for a three-day systems thinking retreat, conducting the retreat, and holding a prevention collaboration team (PCT) meeting to develop recommendations. The pilot culminated in a report for Army Senior Leaders (ASLs) outlining key insights and actionable steps to prevent suicide in the Army and highlighting recommendations that could apply to holistic integrated prevention.

Systems Thinking Overview

Systems thinking is a holistic approach to analysis that recognizes how individual parts work together to create a larger system. Traditional approaches to problem solving typically break the problem (and system) into its individual parts. This kind of approach often leads to myopic quick fixes to one part of a system without recognizing cascading effects on other parts of the system. By surfacing underlying structures that drive patterns of behavior, systems thinking can identify high-leverage points where small changes can shift long-term trends and patterns.