RATIONALE
A system has been defined as a set of “elements standing in interaction” and a “set of objects together with relationships between the objects and between their attributes.” A system denotes interdependency or interaction between the components as well as an identifiable wholeness. An organization is a complex system with many subsystems. These include:
- The Structural Sub-system – The organizational subdivisions, roles and authority; rules and decision-making processes; planning, coordination and control structures.
- The Task Sub-system – The work done by the organization i.e. tasks and sub tasks.
- The Technological Sub-system – Tools, machines, procedures, methods, technical knowledge, information technology.
- The Human-Social Subsystem – Skills and abilities, leadership philosophy and styles, formal method so managing people (staffing, rewards, appraisal bargaining) informal – activities, interactions, norms, feelings, values, status.
- The Goal Sub-system – Organization strategy (vision, goals, yearly objectives) sub unit plans.
When change is introduced in one system it causes changes in all other systems. Some may be intended and planned. Others may be unintended. Traditional approaches to organizational management have emphasized the analysis of individual problems and incremental change, but this will no longer suffice as companies continue to experience complex changes. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to see the consequences of our decisions and to learn from experience.
All organizations and teams are parts of interrelated systems. Seeing yourself and your organization as a system rather than a collection of divisions leads to longer-term success and improved decisions. Small changes can enable learning today and future sustainability.
Systems thinking:
- Allows the look at the “big picture” of the company or issue.
- Helps to recognize interrelationships in complex situations.
- Emphasized feedback relationships present in real systems and their role in generating behavior over time.
- Increase the ability to identify strategic leverage points.
- Provides management with effective tools to communicate their knowledge and analyses.
Systems thinking is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things; seeing the forest and the trees. Systems thinking use archetype descriptions to explain common patterns of behavior. Once it is clear that a particular archetype fits the actual
situation, there are certain strategies that may be used to give greater
leverage in dealing with the problems. The archetypes provide a basic format
with some definite prescriptions, so that interrelationships may be easily
seen.
(Adapted from work by MHA Institute Inc. www.mhainstitute.com )
Getting Started
The first step in using systems thinking is to consider your present situation.
- What is happening?
- Which critical issues may change and in what ways?
- What critical issues may appear in the future?
- What are the non-negotiables in dealing with this issue to resolve this situation? (Non-negotiables are things that you are not willing or able to change.)
- What is working well and what are the reasons for believing this is working well? Be specific, using examples.
- What is not working well? And what are the reasons for believing this is not working well? Be specific and use examples.
- In what way is this situation affecting you and all of the people involved?
- What do you think is causing this situation?
- What other problems do you think this situation is causing?
Systems Thinking Archetypes
There are patterns of behaviour that create systems that are dysfunctional.
Limits for Success
You will see that in the past your efforts led to success but now you are experiencing a leveling off or decline even though you are increasing your efforts. Your growth may be causing other pressures that you are now becoming aware of. There seems to be limits to what you are able to do to maintain your continued success. You may be working harder and the effort is much less effective than it used to be.
Success to the Successful
You are competing with another party for a common resource that is allocated to a specific party. You seem to be on the losing end of this situation. At a certain point in the history of the issue a decision may have been made to allocate more resources to this party. The other party may becoming more successful as a result and continued decisions provide them with more and more resources.
Tragedy of the Commons
Everyone experiences decreasing benefits in the use of a common but limited resource. There is a complex interaction between a large number of users of a common resource. Each person acts individually as if he or she owns the common resource to the collective detriment of all users. Everyone involved is highly dependent on the common resource because they become accustomed to the benefits.
Growth and Under Investment
When you look at your history, you’ll notice periods of growth followed by periods of stagnation or decline. Periods of decline are met with heroic efforts that usually result in spurts of growth. When demand is low there is not need to invest in any growth.
Escalation
Every time the other party makes a move, you respond in a similar way, causing the other party to respond to your actions and so on. You compare your situation to that of the other party and make decisions based on what the other party does. This tit-for–tat competition between you and the other party has been going on for a while. You are getting tired of what seems to be a game of staying abreast or ahead of the competition. You seem to be working harder and the actions are much less effective than they used to be. You are feeling insecure about your ability compete with the other party.
Fixes That Fail
Fixes that have worked in the past are not longer working to fix the problem. The problem keeps recurring and is ongoing. Fixes have both unintended and undesirable consequences or side-effects. The consequences or side-effects are becoming problems.The problem is getting works, required you to do more fixes. The fixes that you select are quick and easy to implement. The fixes tend to deal with the problem at first and then the problem resurfaces.
Shifting the Burden
Fixes that have worked in the past are not longer working to fix the problem. Even though you know that there is a long-term solution to this problem, you select the short-term, quick fix to solve the problem. The problem keeps recurring and is ongoing because responsibility for solving the problem has been shifted to somewhere or someone else (including you). Fixes have both unintended and undesirable consequences or side-effects and don’t resolve the issue. The consequences or side effects are becoming problems. You sense that you are losing track of what the problem actually is, because someone else may be defining and dealing with the problem in a way that doesn’t work. If you have implemented what you believe is a fundamental solution, you discovered another problem emerged.
Drifting Goals
You are experiencing a gap between what your results are currently and the desired goals. You are not able to achieve the desired goals. You are constantly adjusting your goal to meet the current results. You are experiencing pressure to lower your goals. You are experiencing continued poor performance.
Accidental Adversaries
You are experiencing difficulty with what your partner or colleague is doing and how it is negatively affecting you. Your working in a close relationship or partnership and you’re becoming adversaries, without meaning to. Your independent actions are helping you to become successful, but may be hurting your partner or colleague’s success.
Attractiveness Principle
You’re trying to meet everyone’s needs. You are experiencing difficulty in maintaining your standards for success. You’re having difficulty deciding which aspect of your situation you should focus attention on, so you are trying to focus on everything. You find yourself constantly adjusting your situation to meet the needs of others.