THEDOSANDDON’TSOFSYSTEMSTHINKINGONTHEJOBOverallGuidelineThetoolsofsystemsthinkingarebestusedasavehicletopromoteteamlearningintheorganization.Whetheryouaredoing“paperandpencil”modelsorcreatingfull-fledgedmicroworlds,theprocessofconstructingandusingmodelsisprimarilyaboutexploringandexaminingour“mentalmodels”-thedeeply-heldassumptionsthatinfluencethewaywethinkandact.GeneralGuidelinesDON’Tusesystemsthinkingtofurtheryourownagenda.Systemsthinkingismosteffectivewhenitisusedtolookataprobleminanewway,nottoadvocateapre-determinedsolution.Strongadvocacywillcreateresistance-bothtoyourideas,andtosystemsthinking.Itshouldbeusedinthespiritofinquiry,notinquisition.IdentifyingaSystemsProblemTheproblemshouldhaveALLofthefollowingcharacteristics:1.Theissueisimportanttomeandmybusiness.2.Theproblemischronic,ratherthanaone-timeevent.3.TheproblemhasaknownhistorywhichIcandescribe.Example:Profitsweresteadyfor2years,buthavebeendecliningforthelast6months.Or:productivityroserapidlyuntilaboutayearagowhenitleveledoff.4.Peoplehavetriedtosolvethisproblembefore,withlittleornosuccess.Ifyourproblemdoesnothaveallofthesecharacteristics(especiallythefirstthree),itmaynotbeappropriateforasystemsthinkinganalysis.Tryredefiningitforadifferentapproach.DOusesystemsthinkingtosiftoutmajorissuesandfactors.Benefit:systemsthinkingcanhelpyoubreakthroughtheclutterofeverydayeventstorecognizegeneralpatternsofbehaviorandthestructuresthatareproducingthem.Italsohelpsinseparatingsolutionsfromunderlyingproblems.Toooftenweidentifyproblemsintermsoftheirsolution:forexample“theproblemisthatwehavetoomany______(fillintheblank:people,initiatives,stepsinourprocess),”or“theproblemisthatwehavetoolittle____(resources,information,budget...).”DON’Tusesystemsthinkingtoblameindividuals.Chronicunresolvedproblemsaremoreoftentheresultofsystemicbreakdownsthanindividualmistakes.Solutionstotheseproblemslieatthesystemic,nottheindividual,level.DOusesystemsthinkingtopromoteinquiryandchallengepreconceivedideas.Cuesthatnon-systemicthinkingisgoingon:Usingphrasessuchas“Weneedtohaveimmediateresults,”“Wejusthavetodomoreofwhatwedidlasttime.”Or“It’sjustamatteroftryingharder.”GettingStartedDON’Tattempttosolveaproblemimmediately.Don’texpectpersistentandcomplexsystemicproblemstoberepresented,muchlessunderstood,overnight.Thetimeandconcentrationrequiredshouldbeproportionaltothedifficultyandscopeoftheissuesinvolved.Morerealisticgoal:toachieveafullerandwiderunderstandingoftheproblem.DOstartwithsmaller-scaleproblems.DON’Tattempttodiagramthewholesystem-otherwiseyou’llquicklybecomeoverwhelmed.Better:trytofocusonaproblemissueanddrawtheminimumvariablesandloopsyou’llneedtocapturetheproblem.DON’Tworkwithsystemsthinkingtechniques“online”underpressure,orinfrontofagroupthatisunpreparedfororintolerantofthelearningprocess.Additionaldanger:iftheaudienceisnotfamiliarwiththeconceptsandmethodsofsystemsthinking,theymightnotunderstandthattheprocessrevealsmentalmodels,canbecontroversial,andishighlyinterativeinnature.Itisfarmorebeneficialtohavethegroupengageintheirownloopbuildingafterappropriateinstructionandfoundationhasbeengiven.DOdevelopyourdiagramsgraduallyandinformally,inordertobuildconfidenceinusingsystemsthinking.Goodpractice:lookatnewspaperarticlesandtrytodrawafewloopsthatcapturethedynamicsofaproblembeingdescribed.Evenbetter:trymatchingatemplatetothearti...
