DSRP — A systems thinking framework based on Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, and Perspectives that helps people make sense of complexity.
Developed by Derek and Laura Cabrera, DSRP proposes that all thinking is built from four fundamental patterns:
Distinctions (D)
The ability to identify what something is and what it is not. Distinctions create boundaries and meaning.
Systems (S)
The ability to understand wholes and parts. Systems thinking recognises that elements exist within larger structures and contexts.
Relationships (R)
The ability to recognise connections, interactions, dependencies, and influences between things.
Perspectives (P)
The ability to view situations from different viewpoints, assumptions, roles, and contexts.
Together these four patterns provide a practical framework for making sense of complexity. Rather than offering a specific method, DSRP describes the fundamental structures that underpin thinking, learning, communication, and understanding.
In Adapt, Survive and Flourish, DSRP provides a useful lens for understanding how people construct meaning, develop shared mental models, engage in dialogue, and navigate uncertainty. Many disagreements arise not because people possess different facts, but because they draw different distinctions, see different relationships, operate from different perspectives, or define system boundaries differently.
Why It Matters
Complexity often appears overwhelming because people focus on isolated facts rather than the structures that connect them. DSRP helps reveal the assumptions, boundaries, and relationships that shape understanding.
It provides a practical bridge between systems thinking and sensemaking.
Related Glossary Items
- Sensemaking
- Shared Mental Models
- Dialogue, Dialectic & Debate
- Systems Thinking
- Organisational Ecology
- Strategic Thinking
- Knowledge Operating System
Related Source Notes
- Systems Thinking as a Sensemaking Lens
- Source Note – Shared Mental Models
- Structured Sensemaking System
- Source Note – Line of Sight