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Systems Thinking

• County Administrators• Dr. Richard Brynteson• July 25, 2007• brynteson@csp.edu

System

• A perceived whole whose elements“hang together,” because theycontinually affect each other over timeand operate toward a common purpose.

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Systems Thinking

• Systems thinking is peripheral vision:the ability to pay attention to the worldas if through a wide angle, nottelephoto lens.

• Systems thinking is a way to see theworld, looking at wholes, and thedynamics of the entire system, ratherthan parts.

Newtonian vs. Quantum World

• Newtonian vs. Complexity• univalence vs. multivalence• objectivism vs. perception• equilibrium vs. evolution• control vs. Regeneration• predictability vs. harmony• determinism vs. indeterminism• reductionism vs. systems thinking

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Newtonian Thinking:Reductionism

• One can understand something byexamining its component parts.

• Look at job descriptions to understandan organization.

• Find someone to blame.• Cut the problem down to size.

Examples of ReductionisticThinking

• My Lai• Bophal, India• Love Canal• Assembly lines

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Systems Thinking

• The tension is between the parts andthe whole.

• The tension is between mechanistic,reductionistic, or atomistic thinking vs.holistic, organismic, or ecologicalthinking.

•Systems thinking waspioneered by biologists in the1920s who emphasized livingsystems as integrated wholes.

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Gestalt psychologynew science of ecologyquantum physicschaos theory

Systems Levels

• A key to understanding systems is to beable to jump back and forth betweensystems levels.

• Systems are nested within othersystems.

• For instance, apply the concept ofstress to an organism, a city, or aneconomy-- same concept differentlevels of complexity

» Capra

Quantum Physics

• Ultimately, according to quantumphysics, there are no parts at all. “Whatwe call a part is merely a pattern in aninseparable web of relationships.”

• The shift we must make--in business,science, education-- is from objects torelationships.

» Capra

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Networks

• In the new systems thinking, themetaphor of knowledge as a building isbeing replaced by that of the network.

• But the implication is that there is nofoundation, just boundariless networksis scary to some.

» Capra

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Key Concepts

• Interdependence• Open System• Closed System• Homeostasis• Identified Patient

Some principles of opensystems theory

• -a compilation of thoughts by StephenHaines

• Open vs. closed systems

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• Linear thinkers try to fix symptoms,where

• Systems thinkers are concerned withunderlying processes

Linear thinkers try to controlchaos to create order, whereSystems thinkers try to findpatterns amidst the chaos.

• Linear thinkers try to control chaos tocreate order, where

• Systems thinkers try to find patternsamidst the chaos.

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Linear thinkers are concernedwith blame, whereSystems thinkers try to identifypatterns.

Linear thinkers care aboutthings, whereSystems thinkers care aboutinteractions and patterns.

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• Linear thinkers believe organizations arepredictable and orderly, where

• Systems thinkers believe organizationsare unpredictable in a chaoticenvironment.

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Tools of Systems Thinking

• Casual loop diagrams• archetypes• computer models• These allow us to talk about

interrelationships more easily.

Systems Truth #1:There are no right answers.

• Because of interdependencies within acurrent system, there is never a single,right answer

• variety of potential actions: some highleverage, some low leverage

• each action will produce some desiredresults and some unintendedconsequences

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#2: You can’t divide anelephant in half

• You can’t redesign your system bydividing into parts-- everyone must lookat the whole together

• good results depend on bringingdisparate parts together

• all functions and departments have tobe represented

• collaboration is necessary

Collaboration is everything!

#3: Cause and effect will notbe closely related in time or

space.• Don’t look for leverage near the

symptoms of the problem.• Go upstream and back in time to ferret

out the cause.• Often, the highest leverage is found

from unexpected sources.

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#4: You’ll have your cake andeat it too-- but not all at once.• lag variables exist• time delays often can only be

understood with time andexperimentation

• time lags necessitate that you lookbackward in time

#5: The easiest way out willlead back in.

• Beware of the easiest, fastest solution.• Most interventions occur at the visible

level: rules, physical structure, rewardsystems, control mechanisms.

• Most real change happens at theinvisible level: people’s deep-seatedattitudes and beliefs. This is whereleverage lies.

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#6: Behavior will grow worsebefore it grows better.

• Undiscussables happen.• Real issues finally emerge.• Short term chaos sets in.

Eddie Haskell, The Beaver , and Wally.

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#7: The harder you push, theharder the system pushes

back.• Compensating feedback• resistance exists to any change• often the resistance is invisible until you

push

Telltale Signs ofOrganizational Entropy

(Miller and Dupree)

• A tendency toward formality andpoliteness versus effectiveness

• Turf battles among key people• No longer having celebrations and

recognition• A growing feeling that achieving goals is

the same as a reward

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Organizational Entropy: 2

• When people stop telling legendarystories of the founders and other keypeople

• Promotion of people just like you• When people begin to have different

meanings of words like quality, orservice, or customer

Organizational Entropy: 3

• When problem solvers become mainlyreactive

• Managers who seek to control ratherthan empower others

• When the pressure of day-to-dayoperations pushes aside our concern forvision and long-term direction

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Organizational Entropy-4

• An orientation toward rules and logicalone; dismissing contribution, spirit,excellence, beauty, and joy;

• When people think of customers asproblems rather than opportunities toserve

• Thick policy manuals and jobdescriptions.

Organizational Entropy-5

• Leaders who rely on structures ratherthan people

• A loss in confidence in judgment ofleaders by rank and file

• Increased rudeness• A focus on forecasting rather than

planning

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A new orientation(Karash)

• Events– Patterns– SystematicStructures

• Systematic patterns generate patterns.Events are usually parts of a pattern.But we often make decisions based onevents rather than patterns orsystematic structures. This must bechanged.

Events-Patterns-Structure(Karash)

• Events: what happened?• Patterns and Trends: draw the graphs,

where are there changes? Continuitiesand contrasts?

• Structure: How and why? What wouldexplain the patterns? Make hypotheses?What is the thinking, and what’s theimpact?

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Example(from Karash)

• Event: Accident on Storrow Drive, trafficis backed up.

• Pattern: There are always accidents onStorrow Drive. There is always rushhour and people in a hurry.

Example(from Karash)

• Structure Level:– The road is old, narrow, and has poor sight

lines.– Only north/south route in area.– Lane changes necessary given exits.– Speeding laws are not enforced.– Congestion creates cutting-in, tail-gating,

excessive speed, ect…

Look at the UnderlyingStructure…

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Archetypes

• Archetypes are patterns that reoccur in nature. Theyare templates in nature. They help us understandunderlying problems, not just the symptoms ofproblems.

Archetype #1: Fixes thatbackfire

• Squeaky wheel• unintended consequences of a fix• treating the symptom, not the cause• relief occurs, but it is temporary• “small lies” is an example• downsizing to improve profits

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Archetype #2: Limits toGrowth

• Boom, then growth plateaus• for every growth loop, there is a

limiting process• What are you up against?• overshoot and collapse• real leverage is early in the process

Archetype #3: Shift theBurden

• Solutions are obvious and immediate;they relieve the problem symptomquickly

• but they divert attention from the realor fundamental source of the problem

• Helen Keller syndrome: parentsprotected her so she did not have tocome to grips with world on its terms

• addiction pattern: heroes

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Archetype #4: Tragedy of theCommons

• England: sheep herding• individual vs. collective effort• cannot look at isolated solutions-- must

have a totality• what allows Dept. A to perform better,

may limit Dept. B’s performance

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Archetype #5: AccidentalAdversaries

• Wal-Mart and Proctor and Gamble• Allies can turn into enemies• Solution: communication• Solution: again, look at the big picture

Designing a SystemsIntervention

(Pegasus Communications)

• Identify the Problem– Share stories about the issue at hand.– Draw behavior over time graphs– Creating a focus question

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Designing a SystemsIntervention (Pegasus Communications)

• Diagram the Problem– Diagram each story separately– Clarify causal links– Create feedback loops– Identify relevant systems archetypes– Test your theories– Going deeper: what do we really want

here?

Designing a SystemsIntervention (Pegasus Communications)

• Design the Intervention– Determine what you want– Map the intervention– Estimate how your intervention will play

over time.– Do controlled experiments.

Seven steps for breakingthrough organizational

gridlock• Identify the original problem symptom.• Map all quick fixes.• Identify undesirable impacts.• Map addictive side effects of quick fixes.• Find interconnections to fundamental

loops.• Identify high leverage actions.

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Systems Practices

• Ask different questions.• Learn to experience time differently.• Notice systems around you.• Draw a loop a day.

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Systems Questions

• Has the same problem occurred in thepast?

• What structures might be causing thisproblem?

• What delays might we experience inthis system?