“It would be better if everyone worked together as a system.” These few, simple words reveal a mindset and worldview capable of transforming everything we do. Transforming what? A divisive, zero-sum-game way of doing business and managing/controlling people towards one of whole systems optimization. This is not idealism. This is applying systems science to human […]
The Age of Incompetence? How to Put Competence First
It’s a question that must be on so many people’s minds today. All around us, from the people who “deliver” our day-to-day services to the people who lead countries, let alone smaller areas of responsibility, some days we seem to be drowning in incompetence. How is it possible that so much incompetence abounds and why […]
The Science of Why Extra Effort Does Not Equal Extra Productivity in an Organization
People work hard when they care about achieving results in their organization. Sometimes very hard. And yet, why is that no matter how much extra effort they may make, this doesn’t always translate into extra results? In some cases, paradoxically, the harder people work the further they seem to be from where they expect. What’s […]
3 Major Symptoms that Your Organization Has Silo Sickness
It’s time to cure the vast array of symptoms of silo sickness in organizations. These symptoms creep up and spread, before people realize where they are coming from. The reason the symptoms spread is because an organization is a living organism, a system. Dividing an organization up artificially into silos not only creates the disease of […]
Out of Control: Why We Must Transform Organizations Now
Our world has changed. Especially since the global financial crisis. Our reality is complex, that means it’s dense with interconnections and interdependencies that we cannot ignore. We can’t just think about what goes on inside our organizations (complicated enough) but how they interact with and impact stakeholders and entire supply chains. It’s hardly surprising so many managers feel […]
Creating Sustainable Prosperity – a Practical Proposal
Most people would like to be rich. After all, isn’t that the secret to happiness? The fact that in the wealthy First World increasing numbers of people struggle to get by, never mind thrive, is a major conundrum of our times. What we need to create is sustainable prosperity. What if there were something that […]
How Can Systems Thinking Help Organizations?
Question: I have an organizational situation that I need to address and I’m not sure how to go about it. I’ve been hearing a lot about something called systems thinking and I’m interested in understanding what it is and how I benefit from it addressing the situation at hand. Your thoughts on how to pursue […]
Variation in Processes: The Time it Takes to Sell
Everything we do in an organization can be considered as a process. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: whether we realize it or not, every process is affected by variation. We need to understand and manage this phenomenon of variation in processes if we want to achieve the best results. Let’s look at […]
Variation and a Playbook for Organizations
As superbowl excitement rises, lessons can be learned from a team like the Patriots. They have the most systemic approach to football of any team and their consistent choice of players that other teams reject shows their dependence on their playbook, in other words, carefully mapped interdependencies that work towards achieving the goal. The team […]
How Do I Make Use of Systems Thinking Stuff in an Organization?
Question: I have an organizational situation that I need to address and I’m not sure how to go about it. I’ve been hearing a lot about something called systems thinking and I’m interested in understanding what it is and how I benefit from it addressing the situation at hand. Your thoughts on how to pursue […]
