PST Chapter 6 PDF

SECTION 6 From Loops to Leverage: Applying and Practicing Systems Thinking Page of 140  ow that you have some familiarity with interpreting and creating N causal loop diagrams, and wi...

SECTION 6 From Loops to Leverage: Applying and Practicing Systems Thinking Page of 140  ow that you have some familiarity with interpreting and creating N causal loop diagrams, and with complex systems and the idea of sys- tems thinking overall, what next? Systems thinking tools are useful only if you can actually practice and apply them. Many people have com- pared the process of learning to think systemically to that of learning a new language—and no one expects to master Japanese by reading a single workbook! As with any new language fluency in systems thinking requires lots of study and practice. Don’t get discouraged yet, however: There are many ways of applying systems thinking tools immediately—both individually and in your organization. In this final section, we offer an array of practical tips—from a list of “do’s” and “don’ts” for systems thinking on the job, to ideas for making systems thinking an individual, life-long practice. At the end the chapter, the students will be to: 1. identify value creation and business success. 2. Differentiation various palette of system thinking tools. 3. Internalize the learning journey on system archetypes. Chapter 6: Value Creation and Business Success 6.1 The Dos and Don’ts of systems thinking on the Job 6.2 Practicing Life-Long Systems Thinking: Palette of System Thinking tools 6.3 The Learning Journey: System Archetypes THE DO’S AND DON’TS OF SYSTEMS THINKING ON THE JOB1 Besides using BOT graphs and CLDs to generate insights into problems, how else can you begin using systems thinking on the job, especially if you want to introduce it to others? Your best bet is to approach this endeavor in the spirit of “learning to walk before you run.” Here are some suggestions: General Guidelines DON’T use systems thinking to further your own agenda. Systems thinking is most effective when it’s used to look at a problem in a new way, not to advocate a predetermined solution. Strong advocacy will create resistance—both to your ideas, and to systems thinking itself. Present systems thinking in the spirit of inquiry, not inquisition. DO use systems thinking to sift out major issues and factors. Systems thinking can help you break through the clutter of everyday events to recognize general patterns of behavior and the structures that are producing them. It also helps in separating solutions from underlying problems. Too often we identify problems in terms of their solution; for example, “The problem is that we have too many (fill in the blank: people, initiatives, steps in our process),” or “The problem is that we have too little (resources, information, budget).” DON’T use systems thinking to blame individuals. Chronic unresolved problems are more often the result of systemic break- downs than individual mistakes. Solutions to these problems lie at the systemic, not the individual, level. DO use systems thinking to promote inquiry and challenge preconceived ideas. Here are some clues that non systemic thinking is going on: phrases such as “We need to have immediate results,” “We just have to do more of what we did last time,” or “It’s just a matter of trying harder.” Getting Started DON’T attempt to solve a problem immediately. Don’t expect persistent and complex systemic problems to be represented, much less understood, overnight. The time and concentration required should be proportional to the difficulty and scope of the issues involved. Your goal should be to achieve a fuller and wider understanding of the problem. This section was written by Michael Goodman and originally published in The Systems ThinkerTM Newsletter, Volume 3, No. 6. Michael Goodman is a principal of Innovation Associates, an Arthur D. Little Company, and heads IA’s Systems Thinking Group. Page 88 of 140 Do’s and Don’ts of Systems Thinking on the Job 89 DO start with smaller-scale problems. Don’t attempt to diagram the whole system—otherwise you’ll quickly become overwhelmed. Instead, try to focus on a problem issue and draw the minimum variables and loops you’ll need to capture the problem. DON’T work with systems thinking techniques under pressure, or in front of a group that is unprepared for or intolerant of the learning process. If your audience is not familiar with the concepts and methods of systems thinking, they might not understand that the process reveals mental models, can be controversial, and is highly iterative in nature. It is far more beneficial to have the group engage in their own loop building after appropriate instruction and foundation have been given. DO develop your diagrams gradually and informally, in order to build confidence in using systems thinking. Look at newspaper articles and try to draw a few loops that capture the dynamics of a problem being described. DON’T worry about drawing loops right away. One of the strongest benefits of the systems thinking perspective is that it can help you learn to ask the right questions. This is an important first step toward understanding a problem. Drawing Causal Loop Diagrams DO start with the process of defining variables and encourage airing of assumptions. This approach leads to a better shared understanding of a problem. Diagramming is a very effective tool for promoting group inquiry into a problem or issue. DO start with a central loop or process, then add loops to “fill in” detail. Page 90 of 154 For example, the central loop may show how the system is supposed to work, and the additional loops can explore what is pushing it out of whack. DON’T get bogged down in details. Start simply, at a high level of generalization, but with enough detail to sum up the observed behavior. For example, if you’re exploring the causes of missed delivery dates in a factory, lump together the types of products that are experiencing similar delays. DO begin by looking for generic structures that might clarify the problem. Generic structures such as archetypes provide a focal point or a storyline to begin the process of understanding a problem. DO work with one or more partners. Multiple viewpoints add richness and detail to the understanding of a problem. DO check with others to see if they can add some insight or improve upon your diagram. Especially consult people in other functional areas who might have a different perspective on the problem. For example, with a manufacturing delay problem, you might check with finance to see whether there are any dynamics in the finance arena that are affecting the manufacturing delays (capital investments and purchases, etc.). The same can be done for marketing, sales, and so forth. DO work iteratively. There’s no “final” or “correct” causal loop diagram. Looping is a learning process that should continue to evolve with new data and perspectives. DON’T present “final” loop diagrams as finished products. Instead, present a diagram as a tentative and evolving picture of how you are seeing things. To gain buy-in and maximize learning, make sure your audience participates in the modeling process. DO learn from history. When possible, check data to see if your diagram correctly describes past behavior. Designing Interventions DO get all stakeholders involved in the process. This will help ensure that all viewpoints have been considered and will increase the chance that the stakeholders will accept the intervention. DON’T go for vague, general, or open-ended solutions. For example, instead of proposing a solution such as “Improve communications,” rephrase your thought as “Reduce the information delay between sales and manufacturing by creating a new information system.” DO make an intervention specific, measurable, and verifiable. For example, “Cut the information delay between sales and manufacturing down to 24 hours.” DO look for potential unintended side effects of an intervention. Remember the general principle: “Today’s problems often come from yesterday’s solutions.” Any solution is bound to have trade-offs, so use systems thinking to explore the implications of any proposed solution before trying to implement it. DON’T be surprised if some situations defy solution, especially if they are chronic problems. Rushing to action can thwart learning and ultimately undermine efforts to identify higher leverage interventions. Resist the tendency to “solve” the issue and focus on gaining a deeper understanding of the structures producing the problem. Be wary of a symptomatic fix disguised as a long-term, high-leverage intervention. DO remember that, even for systems thinkers, it’s easy to fall back into a linear process. Learning is a cycle—not a once-through process with a beginning and an end. Once you have designed and tested an intervention, it’s time to shift into the active side of the learning cycle. This process includes acting, seeing the results, and then coming back to examine the outcomes from a systemic perspective. PRACTICING LIFE-LONG SYSTEMS THINKING2 In addition to using systems thinking skills in the workplace, how can you incorporate the learning and practice of systems thinking into everyday life? Happily, there are lots of opportunities to do this, not only as individuals but also as in collaborative learning arrangements and in learning communities. Individual Practice Individual practice is a good starting point for applying the basic concepts of systems thinking that you’ve learned through a book or a workshop. By incorporating some of the basic tools and understanding of the systems approach into everyday work situations, you can begin to build your confidence and competence—and gain a clearer sense of where you need further practice. These practice methods need no equipment—just your brain, your curiosity, and your enthusiasm. Here are some suggestions for everyday use of systems thinking skills: Page 92 of 154 Pay Attention to the Questions You Ask Much of the value of systems thinking comes from the different framework that it gives us for looking at problems in new ways. For example, the concept of the Events-Patterns-Structure iceberg (Figure 6.1, “The Iceberg”) lets us practice going beyond event-oriented responses to look for deeper, structural causes of problems. FIGURE 6.1 The Iceberg Events This section was written by Linda Booth Sweeney and originally published in The Systems ThinkerTM Newsletter, Vol. 7, No. 8. Linda Booth Sweeney is an educator, researcher, and associate of the MIT Center for Organizational Learning. She is also the author of The Systems Thinking Playbook, Volume I, and co-author of The Systems Thinking Playbook, Volume II. To practice moving from events to structure, start by simply paying attention to the questions you ask. Practice asking questions that get at deeper meanings, that inquire into others’ viewpoints, or that elicit additional information. Examples include: Questions that look for patterns (“Has this same problem occurred in the past?”); Genuinely curious questions that enable new information to be shared (“What makes you say that?”); Questions that push for a deeper understanding of the problem (“What structures might be causing this behavior?”); Questions that probe for time delays (“What effect will project delays have on our resources?”); Questions that look for hidden loops (“What might be causing this feeling that we are ‘spinning our wheels?’”); and Questions that look for unintended consequences (“What would happen if we got what we wanted?”). When probing for potential unintended consequences, the challenge is to ask the question without causing people to feel threatened or having yourself labeled as the “naysayer.” One organization came up with a clever way to combat the negative labeling of those who raised concerns: The CEO and his senior team established a “qualming” period during each team meeting. During this time, team members were encouraged and expected to raise their concerns about the topic at hand. By setting aside a designated time for this activity, they turned the practice of looking for unintended consequences into a positive and creative part of the group’s process. Page 93 of 154 Sense and Notice the Systems Around You The great poet and philosopher Rumi once wrote: “New organs of perception come into being as a result of necessity. Therefore... increase your necessity so that you may increase your perception.” We can increase our ability to perceive and sense the three levels of events-patterns-structures operating simultaneously by actively looking for feedback loops in everyday situations. How? We simply need to stop, look, listen, and sense. For one colleague, the daily practice of thinking systemically comes with taking care of her house and garden, as she reflects on how her actions are affecting the Earth, the water, the air, and all the other living creatures. Little by little, that practice is leading her to use different cleaning agents, cut out most pesticides, let the clover take over the lawn, and plant lots of shrubs and trees to provide a rich, varied habitat. For her, the connection to systems thinking is to remember the Earth as a system, of which she is a part, and to try to imagine the impact of her actions on that larger system. Draw a Loop-a-Day (or one a week) Try instituting a new morning ritual: Sit down with your cup of coffee, the newspaper, a pad of paper, and a pen, and look for stories that can be explored through causal loop diagrams. Search for stories that describe patterns of behavior over time (“The unemployment rate rose over the past 10 years, as did the number of families seeking welfare assistance.”) and sketch out the systemic structure that you think might have produced those pat- terns of behavior. This is an excellent way to gain practice in recognizing systemic structures at work, and to master the mechanics of drawing causal loop diagrams. Collaborative Learning When it comes to practice, we are each other’s greatest assets. You can greatly enhance your understanding and application of systems thinking by working in a group, in which you can offer feedback and learn from each other’s experience. Here are several ideas for creating group processes that can further your systems thinking practice: Apprenticeship/Mentoring/Coaching If you can find the right person or organization, try to establish an apprenticeship with someone who is more skilled than you in the tools and techniques of systems thinking. As part of your “training,” see if you can shadow that person during the workday (if he or she is a manager) or on their next engagement (if he or she is a consultant). You can also identify someone to be your coach or mentor. Fill a large file folder with causal loops from newspaper and magazine articles and ask a colleague who is well versed in the field of system dynamics to act as your coach. Pick one example a week from your daily coffee-and-causal-loop exercise and fax your coach both the article and your causal loop diagram explanation. Then meet—even if by telephone—to discuss the loop and consider alternative scenarios and possible interventions. Book Group Another possibility is to find a partner or group with whom you can connect on a regular basis (perhaps monthly) to read a book on systems thinking or organizational learning. Perhaps you want to pick up a copy of a seminal book, such as Limits to Growth or Principles of Systems, and agree with a colleague to read a chapter a week, arranging a time to discuss that particular chapter (either in person, by phone, or via e-mail). You may also want to convene a small group to work through exercises in experientially based books such as The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook or The Systems Thinking Play- book— or even a workbook like this one! Even the president of a large non- profit recently revealed that she and her staff meet once a week for several hours to work through a different system thinking–related exercise every week. Page 94 of 154 Learning Communities Learning communities involve individuals from cross-disciplinary back- grounds who come together to learn and practice in a group setting. There are currently several groups around the country that have formed to practice the skills of systems thinking, and the number continues to grow. In addition to face-to-face gatherings, several electronic forums have been created for people who want to exchange ideas and experiences in using the tools of systems thinking (see Appendix F: Additional Resources). For example, to create a practice field for local practitioners and members of organizations interested in systems thinking, a colleague from Port- land, Maine, organized monthly meetings at the houses of different group members. Group members brought stories from their business experiences—typically chronic problems that persisted despite ongoing efforts to resolve them. After several members told their “stories,” one would be selected for the group to focus on. The rest of the meeting would be spent around a flip chart, exploring the roots of the problem through thoughtful inquiry and the construction of causal loop diagrams. THE LEARNING JOURNEY The most important underpinning of life-long systems thinking practice, whether in your personal or professional life, is an attitude of curiosity and mindfulness—that is, the ability to adopt a beginner’s mindset and to main- tain a heightened awareness of your thought processes. Most of the tips and practice opportunities described in this section provide a mirror that reflects your automatic responses in dealing with complex, systemic issues. Do you find yourself responding with openness and inquiry, or do you lapse into defensiveness and a need for “absolute” answers? As you experiment with the various approaches to practicing and applying systems thinking, keep in mind that there is no one “right” way to mas- ter these new skills. These guidelines are simply intended to get you started. Over time, you may discover additional approaches that work well for you. For those adventurous souls who are attempting to take an unknown route to their destination, a lovely quote reminds us: “Traveler, there is no path. We make the road by walking.” Reference: The Systems ThinkerTM Newsletter, Vol. 7, No. 8. Linda Booth Sweeney “The Systems Thinking Playbook, Volume I, and co-author of The Systems Thinking Playbook, Volume II. 2015 The Systems Thinker, Vol. 1, No. 3, August 1991 (Pegasus Communications, Inc.). Learning Activities: Additional Learning Activities Page 95 of 154