In this post we look at how we can build a sustainable system, how we can operate as a sustainable system, and the results this will help us achieve. What would happen if everyone came to work and just did their own thing? Even with the best of intentions, this would not be a great way to get results. That’s why […]
Network of Teams – A Cognitive Ordeal?
Last month we published ‘Team of Teams – a Systems View‘ that garnered quite a bit of attention. The subject of teams is a hot one. Articles on the matter abound, like this one from Deloitte, ‘ Organizational Design – The Rise of Teams’ According to Deloitte, “Businesses are reinventing themselves to operate as networks of […]
Freedom from the Trap of Silos through a Network of Projects
Many organizations still have traditional hierarchies and silo their people into functions. But the complexity of today’s reality needs something different. With the exponential growth of interconnections and interdependencies, a traditional organizational design can undermine productivity and sustainable growth. Here we summarize the organizational design we propose, based on two decades of international work, specifically applied to […]
Complexity in Financial and Economic Systems – Adding Clarity
Complexity is all around us, but do we really understand what it means? And how are financial markets and economic systems affected by it? In this post, Dr. Giovanni Siepe takes a systemic perspective. What is a system and what does complexity mean? There are many conversations taking place about complexity and complex systems. In […]
Learning to Fly High – What Leaders Can Learn from the Air
How do we know things? Largely through our senses and our experience. Fire burns, sugar tastes good. As Seth Godin recently put it, “We’re hardwired to believe and understand the things we can actually experience.” Soaring with science If we relied on our senses and on our hearts instead of our educated minds, we would […]
Change or Don’t Change? Embracing the Choice
There is a fundamental conflict about change that we all face throughout our lives. If we can verbalize it in a general way, then we have an opportunity to deal with it every time it haunts us. If there is one thing we know we will face in life for certain, it’s change. From day […]
Team of Teams- A Systems View
Teams are at the core of successful work in organizations. Very few things can be accomplished by individuals. There is increasing talk about teams. Inspiring work has been done in military environments, as illustrated through the book Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal. But what is a team? How do you choose the members, and […]
Quality and Kindness: An Uplifting Healthcare Experience
Sometimes it can be useful to look at a system from an individual’s point of view, as the design of the system is what creates our experiences. So this blog post by Intelligent Management co-Founder Angela Montgomery takes an unusually personal slant. “We’ll keep an eye on you for five years,” my surgeon told me. […]
Systems Thinking and Public Policy – Start Making Sense
An article in Governing.com informs about how linear logic drastically failed the Boston suburb of Somerville when a highway and an overpass were built right through it. The unintended consequences of the road building that seemed rational were huge for the community of the suburb. Mayor Curtatone had the good sense to team up with a Systems […]
The Danger of False Assumptions – Learn to Think Better
How can people keep thinking something when evidence around them is screaming a different reality? How can we make sure that thinking blocks don’t happen to us? It’s more common that we would like to believe. We may want to be independent thinkers, but we end up following the crowd, arriving at conclusions that are […]
