1st Edition
Systems Thinking Methods in Sport Practical Guidance and Case Study Applications
Sport is increasingly being described as a complex system. This inherent complexity cannot be understood by examining components in isolation, rather, the system as a whole should represent the unit of analysis. Systems thinking is the answer to understand this complexity. Systems thinking, is a fundamental approach for understanding complexity and is beginning to gain traction in sport. It provides a philosophy and a set of associated methods which can be used to understand and optimize the behavior of complex systems such as sport. This book presents, for the first time, a practical guide to applying contemporary systems thinking methods in sport, as well as case study applications demonstrating how their outputs can be translated in practice. The methods described in this book can be used for better understanding the systemic influences on performance, injury, team functioning, decision making, adverse incidents, sports organization design and redesign, and prediction modelling. Systems Thinking Methods in Sport provides a practical step by step guide for sports practitioners and stakeholders, as well as university students and academics in applying state-of-the-art systems thinking methods to sport.
Part 1: Introductory Chapters to Complexity and Systems Thinking Concepts
1. Introduction To Complexity and Systems Thinking in Sport
2. Where To Intervene in Sports Systems
Part 2: Systems Analysis Methods
3. Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA)
4. Cognitive Work Analysis
5. The Event Analysis of Systemic Teamwork (East) and East Broken Links (East-Bl) Approach
6. Network Analysis
7. Causal Loop Diagrams
8. The Systems Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP) Control Structure Method
Part 3: Risk Analysis Methods
9. The Systems Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP) - Systems Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) Method
10. The Networked Hazard Analysis and Risk Management System (Net-HARMS)
11. The Accident Mapping (AcciMap) Method
12. The Accident Network (AcciNet)
Part 4: Many Model Applications
13. A Many Models Approach to Complex Sport Systems Analysis and Design
Biography
Scott McLean is a Senior Research Fellow and the research theme leader for Sport and Outdoor Recreation in the Centre for Human Factor and Sociotechnical systems at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He holds a bachelor’s degree in sport and exercise science, a master’s degree in exercise physiology, and a PhD in Human Factors and Ergonomics in sport. Scott’s research spans a broad range of domains including sport science, safety science, systems thinking, and complexity science. He has strong collaborations in sport and has worked and conducted research with multiple national and international sporting organisation including, the World Anti-Doping Agency, Sport Integrity Australia, the Australian Institute of Sport, Athletics Australia, Cycling Australia, the French Anti-Doping Agency, Sport and Recreation Victoria, the English Institute of Sport, Scottish Rugby Union, the Defence Science & Technology Group, St Kilda AFL club, Brisbane Roar Football Club, Sunshine Coast Lightning netball, and UniSC Para Sport.
Mitchell Naughton Mitch Naughton is an Associate Lecturer in Exercise Physiology at the University of Newcastle (Australia). He has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in sport and exercise science and completed his PhD at the University of the Sunshine Coast Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems where he investigated the influence of external loads on post-match fatigue in collision sport athletes. He has over 10 years of applied and research experience in the areas of performance analysis, sports science, and exercise physiology. He has presented at leading international and national sports science conferences and maintains an active research profile with international collaborators across a range of domains including sport, physical activity, defence, and occupational settings.
Gemma Read is the Co-Director of the Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems at the University of the Sunshine Coast. She has degrees in behavioural science and law and completed her PhD at the Monash University Accident Research Centre. She has over 16 years’ experience applying human factors and systems thinking methods in both academia and government roles. Her work spans a range of domains including transportation, healthcare, construction, defence, sport and outdoor recreation and her research has been recognised by awards from the UK Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors, the US Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the Australian Aviation Psychology Association.
Neville Stanton, PhD, DSc, is a Chartered Psychologist, Chartered Ergonomist and Chartered Engineer. He is Professor Emeritus of Human Factors Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton in the UK. He has degrees in Occupational Psychology, Applied Psychology and Human Factors Engineering and has worked at the Universities of Aston, Brunel, Cornell and MIT. His research interests include modelling, predicting, analysing and evaluating human performance in systems as well as designing the interfaces and interaction between humans and technology. Professor Stanton has worked on design of automobiles, aircraft, ships and control rooms over the past 30 years, on a variety of automation projects. He has published 60 books and over 400 journal papers on Ergonomics and Human Factors. In 1998 he was presented with the Institution of Electrical Engineers Divisional Premium Award for research into System Safety. The Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors in the UK awarded him The Otto Edholm Medal in 2001, The President’s Medal in 2008 and 2018, The Sir Frederic Bartlett Medal in 2012 and The William Floyd Medal in 2019 for his contributions to basic and applied ergonomics research. The Royal Aeronautical Society awarded him and his colleagues the Hodgson Prize in 2006 for research on design-induced, flight-deck, error published in The Aeronautical Journal. The University of Southampton has awarded him a Doctor of Science in 2014 for his sustained contribution to the development and validation of Human Factors methods.
Adam Hulme is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow specialising in the use of systems science methods at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. He holds a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science, an Honours in Sports Psychology, a Masters in Health Promotion, and a PhD in Epidemiology and Systems Human Factors in the area of sports injury aetiology. His Doctoral program was completed at an International Olympic Committee (IOC) world leading research centre in sports injury prevention. He has an extensive list of research publications in sport, including a world-first complex systems microsimulation published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. In addition to sport, Dr Hulme has applied and evaluated systems thinking methods across multiple sociotechnical system domains, and co-developed the AcciNet method with collaborators at the Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems.
Guy Walker is a Professor within the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. He lectures on transportation engineering and human factors. He is the author/co-author of over one hundred peer reviewed journal articles and eighteen books. He has been awarded the Institute for Ergonomics and Human Factors (IEHF) President’s Medal for the practical application of Ergonomics theory and Heriot-Watt’s Graduate’s Prize for inspirational teaching. Dr Walker has a BSc Honours degree in Psychology from the University of Southampton, a PhD in Human Factors from Brunel University, is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors, and a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy of Scotland. His research has featured in the popular media, from national newspapers, TV and radio through to an appearance on the Discovery Channel.
Paul Salmon is a Professor in Human Factors and is the Co-director of the Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Paul has over twenty years’ experience of applied Human Factors and systems thinking research in areas such as road and rail safety, aviation, defence, sport and outdoor recreation, healthcare, workplace safety, and cybersecurity. His research has focused on understanding and optimizing human, team, organisational and system performance through the application of Human Factors and systems theory and methods. He has co-authored 22 books, over 300 peer reviewed journal articles, and numerous book chapters and conference contributions. According to The Australian Research Magazine, since 2020 Paul has been Australia’s number 1 researcher in the field of quality and reliability. Paul’s contribution has been recognized through various accolades, including the Chartered Institute for Ergonomics and Human Factor’s 2019 William Floyd award and 2008 Presidents Medal, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Australia’s 2017 Cumming memorial medal, and the International Ergonomics Association’s 2018 research impacting practice award.
“Systems thinking in sport is an essential read for all of those interested in understanding complex problems in high performance. The book provides a fantastic outline of the methodological approaches that can be used to both collect and analyse data to create insights from a systems thinking perspective. Each chapter provides content that is easy to understand and use. This makes it a brilliant resource for those like me who are interested in these research approaches but have little experience in the range of techniques that can be used or how to use them. As such, the book is a “one stop shop” in its ability to provide comprehensiveness in one volume. This is definitely an essential text for those thinking a little differently about research in sport and exercise science.”
Professor Barry Drust, Director of The Graduate School of Sport and Professional Practice. School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences. University of Birmingham.
“Complexity and systems problems exist throughout all aspects of athlete preparation in elite sports. This book provides a brilliant practical guide to understanding the fundamental structure of many of these issues. This book gave me a deeper appreciation for the true cause of problems in sport and signposted ways to solve them.
This is a fascinating and highly influential book from authors with a great breadth of experience within and outside of elite sports. Having read this, I now see systems problems everywhere. Incredibly useful!”
Patrick Hogben. Head of Strength and Conditioning, Atlanta Hawks, National Basketball Association (NBA).
