The path of least resistance is a familiar concept from nature. It can be observed in patterns of water on glass. Flow is created where least energy is required. But is there a way to make this principle apply to the way organizations work? There is, and we take a look at it here. An […]
Creating Flow in Your Organization as a Sustainable System
In this post we look at how we can create 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 […]
A New Organizational Design for Complexity
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, specifically applied to organizations with a well defined goal. It […]
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 […]
The Scottish Independence Vote – A Dilemma for Brave Hearts
The decision awaiting Scots tomorrow will shape the rest of their lives and those of their descendants. It will also impact the rest of the United Kingdom. Leading economists completely disagree about the implications. We give a personal (and genetically Scottish) take from a systemic thinking point of view. Anyone who has visited Scotland […]
Change or Don’t Change? Do You Have a 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 […]
South Africa’s Subprime Crisis: A possible solution?
A recent NYT article talks about South Africa’s Subprime Crisis. The article draws attention to the downward economic spiral created by unsecured credit in South Africa. The author of the article, T. O. Molefe, describes the situation succinctly and clearly. South Africa’s regulations had saved the country from the 2007 USA Subprime fallout. Sadly, South Africa now has its own […]
Systems Thinking for Public Policy? Yes please.
Public policy can have severe unintended consequences. What can Systems Thinking do to bring results without the collateral damage? The Mayor of Somerville Mass. is applying systems thinking to creating public policy. An article in Governing.com informs about how linear logic drastically failed the Boston suburb of Somerville when a highway and […]
Don’t get stuck on thinking blocks. Think again, think better (systemically)
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 […]
How to Manage an Organization through Complexity (Go Patriots)
How do we manage an organization to cope with complexity? It means understanding the organization as a system and seeing the interdependencies, something that the Patriots understand. Independence vs. interdependence What can the theory of systems tell us about managing organizations? First of all, if all the components that make up the system are independent, then […]
