Systems Thinking
Systems Thinking can mean different things to different people. It is more than just a set of tools : Causal loop diagram, …
It could mean a sensitivity to the circular nature of the world we live in; an awareness of the role of structure in creating the conditions we face; a recognition that there are powerful laws of systems operating that we are unaware of; a realisation that there are consequences to our actions that we are oblivious to.
Systems Thinking is a disciplined approach for examining problems more completely and accurately before acting. It allows us to ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.
Systems Thinking often involves moving from observing events or data, to identifying patterns of behaviour over time, to surfacing the underlying structures that drive those events and patterns
Systems thinking perspective requires Curiosity, Clarity, Compassion, Choice and Courage.
Why Use Systems Thinking?
It expands the range of choices available for solving a problem by broadening our thinking and helping us articulate problems in new and different ways.
Principles of systems thinking make us aware that there are no perfect solutions; the choices we make will have an impact on other parts of the system.
When Should We Use Systems Thinking?
Ideal problems or issues for Systems Thinking
The issue is important
The problem is chronic, not a one time event
The problem is familiar and has a known history
People have unsuccessfully tried to solve the problem before
Where should we Start?
When beginning to address the issue, Avoid assigning Blame!!! e.g. People often come late to the training. Therefore these people are at fault.
Instead, focus on items that people seem to be glossing over and try to arouse the group’s curiosity about the problem under discussion. e.g. Asking question “What is it about this problem that we don't understand? “
Six Steps to thinking systematically
In the face of day-to-day pressure, groups often leap to solutions after only a modest amount of brainstorming. A systematic approach provides a structured problem solving process for digging deeper into our most vexing problem.
These six steps are
1.Tell the story
2.Draw “Behavior Over Times” graphs.
3.Create a focusing statement - A picture of what people want and a question about why certain problems are
4.Identify the structure - Draw Causal Loop Diagram
5.Going deeper into the issues - Look at the underlying issues in order to move from understanding to action
6.Plan the intervention - Might involve adding, strengthening, removing or weakening some of the loops in the diagram to produce desired behaviour
How to coach and facilitate systems thinking ?
Systems thinking - A language for collective inquiry, learning, and action.
It is used in a group setting in order for people to learn together - To generate knowledge and understanding beyond what any one member of the group already know.
For facilitator,
Engage, don’t convince - We want everyone to be thinking hard about the problem at hand. It is important to get everyone engaged in creating a shared understanding. Always suspend assumption, “Presume that every view has merit”, and “Pursue differences”
Treat Theory as Theory - Each drawn causal loop diagram is like a theory that needs to be validated. The validation could be done by asking “As you see it, how does X cause Y? What is you rational? What are the data? Can you give me an example? Once obtain the answer, State your point of view and share your own line of reasoning.
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Learning Fable - #1
Outlearning the wolves - Debriefing
Def : Learning - “Continually enhancing one’s capability create, think, relate, and act in productive ways”
Learning is innate.
Organization - Finding ways to create the results it desires
To move toward a Sustaining and Transformational Change, people must deeply engage the change process emotionally and personally
Outlearning the wolves : 3 domains creating Organisational Learning
1.Results - an answer of questions “Why Bother?” : What are the measurable/ observable outcomes the organization wishes to create?
OW : “We will become a learning flock”
2. Domain of Action (Learning) - What we will do to achieve the results we desire?
The answer would be collective, co-ordinated actions in order for a learning culture to germinate.
Domain of Action is consisted of
2.1. Guiding Idea - “That the flock could achieve the results they desired by first explicitly discussing their beliefs about wolves”
2.2 Theory/ Method/ Tool : Used to test guiding idea. It is reusable/ generalised area of knowledge and practices - “Meeting”
2.3 Innovation Infrastructure : Anything directing resources toward achieving the desired results. Could be just a simple innovation that can catalyse dramatic learning -Information gathering and Sharing network - “gather as much information as possible about the wolves"
3. Domain of Change (Deep Learning Cycle) - How will we pursue our goals?
When people learn, Changes take place in 3 areas
3.1. New Skills and Capabilities : “How do we know when we are learning?” -> “When can do things we could not do before” - e.g. “Learn to push rock around with nose"
3.2. New awareness and sensibilities : Enhanced insight and deeper understandings of complexity around you. Raised argument to challenge old beliefs could allow us to see the obvious element we could not notice before - e.g. “We all say the wolves cannot be stopped but what if it is not true”
3.3 New attitude and belief - e.g. “Maybe wolves aren’t so smart after all. Maybe they really can be stopped"
Five Disciplines
1. Personal Mastery - Ability to create the results you want with an economy means. People with a deep sense of personal mastery are on a life-long journey of self discovery e.g. Otto said "I have a dream .... "
2. Mental Model - Deeply held vision or set of beliefs and assumptions about how to world works e.g. "The flock's belief that the wolves were unstoppable is a powerful example of how mental models can affect the way we experience the world. It holds a great deal of power to us. In a learning culture, individuals can release fierce need to defend and justify their mental models and become adept at challenging and "trying on" new ones
3. Shared Vision - People excel and learn, not because they are told to, but because they want to. e.g. In this story the vision tapped into sheep's own deepest aspiration - A desire to live free of fear.
4. Team Learning - Occurs when individuals within the system are aligned i a free-flowing whole as they work together. The phenomenon of an organization accomplishing something extraordinary requires a deep, transformational "Dialogue" in which team members can align in new, shared awareness about themselves and the world
5. Systems thinking - A field of study that examines the patterns and structures that govern nature families, the economy, our bodies, companies, and all other dynamic systems. e.g. From the story, the flock's original cause0and-effect view of the world might be "Wolf gets hungry, wolf eats cheep" But the sheep discovered that a more complex system was in play, whereby variables such as the weather, the wolves' limitations, and the flock's own biases all intersected and influenced one another in complex cause-and-effect relationships
Guiding questions from the Story
1. How might the metaphor in Outlearning the Wolves apply to your own organisation's ways of doing things?
2. Has your organization stated the results it is trying to achieve? If so, how do the intended results tap into your own aspiration?
3. What are some guiding ideas at work in your own organization? How do these ideas influence the theories, methods, and tools used in the organization and the infrastructure established? Now discussed some possible new guiding ideas to introduce into your organisation.
4. What does it mean to engage people in the deep learning cycle? How does your organization make it attractive for individuals to choose to enter into this cycle?
5. How might the five disciplines help your organization develop new skills ands capabilities within the learning cycle?
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