v The purpose of this guidebook is to provide progressive managers with practical tools for enhancing learning,
change, and performance on individual, team, and organizational levels. The design and content of these tools are based on
systems thinking and learning, a way of thought , understanding, and action that offers each of us a better means to achieve
the results we desire.
v Systems thinking comes from a rigorous scientific discipline called General Systems Theory, which developed
from the study of biology in the 1920s. The theory centered on the natural world, the living systems there-in, and the common
laws governing those systems.
vi Systems thinking - A new way to view and mentally frame what we see in the world; a worldview and way
of thinking whereby we see the entity or unit first as a whole, with its fit and relationship to its environment as primary
concerns.
vii-viii Why is systems thinking so effective as an orientation to life? Because it is based on a simple
but profound truth: Living systems are the natural order of life. Most of us, however, overlook this truth; we tend
to take natural and universal laws for granted, rather than explore their secrets to see what they can teach us about life
and our perceptions of the world.
viii Let systems thinking and learning clarify and simplify how you see reality, so you too can
operate more successfully in today's complex and globally interconnect[ed] world. Here's to elegant simplicity...
and to systems solutions! [JLJ - a great introduction and my thoughts exactly...]
p.1-2 We find ourselves in a small world of enormous complexity, a new world that demands we see it from
a new perspective - a systems perspective - with a mindset attuned to processes, patterns, and relationships...
we must understand that any mindset consists of mental models, or concepts, that influence our interpretation of situations
and predispose us to certain responses. These models, which are replete with beliefs and assumptions, thus strongly determine
the way we understand the world and act in it. The irony is, they become so ingrained in us, as tendencies and predispositions,
that we seldom pay attention to them. Even when something in our experience calls them into question - an "unsolvable" problem,
perhaps, or an "unmanageable" interpersonal conflict - we miss the call. Those problems and conflicts, patched up for the
time being, never really get resolved, and we wonder why success eludes us.
p.2 we must take an active role in shaping our mindsets, opting for mental models which better "capture"
the world we need to understand. It is at this point where the systems thinking mindset comes in... The beauty of
this mindset is that its mental models are based on natural laws, principles of interrelationship, and interdependence
found in all living systems. They give us a new view of ourselves and our many systems... they help us define organizational
problems as systems problems, so we can respond in more productive ways.
p.3 When one component of a system changes, it affects many other systems components and may even alter
the entire system.
p.6 To become practitioners of that art [systems thinking] ourselves, we need to start looking at societal
and organizational problems as systems problems and seek systems-integrated solutions... We also must try to detect
patterns of relationship and interdependence between systems, looking for "leverage points" - areas of influence that, if
acted upon, can lead to beneficial changes throughout those systems.
p.6 Our Systems Thinking ApproachTM and mindset thus requires mental models that help
us discover more than just "partial systems" solutions - what we tend to get in today's systems-focused efforts.. It is
General Systems Theory, a lost art based on a natural perspective of the world and its many systems... this theory looks
to not artificial constructs or paradigms for its understanding of the world, but to life itself, acknowledging that living
systems are the natural order of life.
p.7 [Geoffrey Vickers quote, from 1970] In short, the task of General Systems Theory is to find the
most general conceptual framework in which a scientific theory or a technical problem can be placed without losing the essential
features of the theory or the problem.
p.7 This theory, then is a marvelous vehicle for framing and describing universal relationships. Its basic
precept is that, in our work on any problem, the whole should be our primary consideration, with the parts secondary.
p.9 many continue to see analyzing as synonymous with thinking. Instead, synthesis or holistic
systems thinking is what's required.
p.10 Simple analytic thinking focuses on cause-and-effect: one cause for every one effect. It asks the all
too common either/or question. Its weakest link, and the reason it's not working in today's world, is that it doesn't take
into consideration the environment, other systems, and the multiple and/or delayed causality that surrounds each cause and
effect. Nor does it consider a part's interrelationships and interdependencies with other parts.
p.20 The basic concept of the learning organization, as distinct from all the rhetoric surrounding it, directs
us toward gathering as much feedback as possible, even negative feedback, so we can act on it to create new learning. Only
through feedback can organizations hope to learn and grow at all systems levels
p.21 a common, detailed vision for any organization or society is crucial to coordinated and focused actions
by its members.
p.22 Too often we ignore the complexity of an issue, insisting upon, and fighting about,
the "best way to do things." We immediately look for direct, one-to-one, cause-and-effect relationship that would explain
the issue; then we try to find a simple, singular solution. But such solutions do not work in a systems world, that
is, our world today.
p.26 A closed system eventually must attain an equilibrium state with maximum entropy: death or disorganization.
p.29-30 In order to effect change in a system, we must begin where analytic thinking would have us end up
- at the output phase. We ask "Where do we want to be?" and then think and work backwards through the system phases to create
the desired future state.. When applied to problem solving, the model focuses us on results... so we work toward better, longer-term
answers and solutions... clarity and focus are possible, despite all the complexity.
p.31-32 Where do we want to be? ... How will we know we have reached it? ... What is changing in
the environment that we need to consider? ... Where are we right now? ... How do we get from here to our desired place?
p.32 Analytic thinkers start with today's issues; so they end up problem-solving isolated events. Instead,
we must see today's issues in light of desired outcomes.
p.32 as a framework and an orientation to life, the [Systems] model is applicable to virtually any
situation you encounter. Use it in all that you think about, act upon, and evaluate. [JLJ - perhaps even in
a machine playing a game, such as chess...]
p.33 The way you think creates the results you get. The most powerful way to improve the
quality of your results is to improve the way you think.
p.37-38 Standard Systems Dynamics
This chapter presents 12 tools that will help you apply the principles of standard systems dynamics and
other key concepts to systems-related change efforts...
1. Systems Preconditions - What entity (system or "collision of systems") are we dealing with, and what
are its boundaries? - What levels of the overall entity do we want to change? 2. Desired Outcomes - What are the desired outcomes?
3. The Need for Feedback - How will we know we have achieved the desired outcomes? 4. Environmental Impact - What is changing
in the environment that we need to consider? 5. Looking at Relationships - What is the relationship of x to y and z? 6. The
What and the How - Are we dealing with ends (the what) or with means (the how)? 7. The Iceberg Theory of Change - What new
processes and structures are we using to ensure successful change? 8. But-In and Stay-In - What must we do to ensure buy-in
and stay-in (perseverance) over time, and thus avoid the problem of entropy? 9. Centralize and Decentralize - What should
we centralize and what should we decentralize? 10. Multiple Causes: Root Causes - What multiple causes lie at the root of
our problem or concern? (That is, what are the root causes of our problem or concern?) 11. KISS: From Complexity to Simplicity
- How can we move from complexity to simplicity, and from strict consistency to flexibility, in the solutions we devise? 12.
The Ultimate Question: Superordinate Goals - What is our common higher-level (superordinate) goal?
These Tools Will Get You Started on Systems Thinking!
p.39 Principle: The entity to be changed must be clear.
p.42 while pursuing your vision and strategic plan, develop the organization's capacity to provide an adaptive
system of change
p.44 we ask the Number One systems thinking question: What are the desired outcomes? (That is, Where do
we want to be?)
p.46 How will we know we have achieved the desired outcomes?
p.48 What is changing in the environment that we need to consider?
p.50-51 It is essential for us to continually assess how the parts fit or link together in an integrated
process in support of the whole outcome. Moreover, each part's effectiveness cannot be analyzed in a void, but only
in relationship to the other parts and the processes that lead to the whole.
p.55 If you want to measure success, then measure ends, not means.
p.58 What new processes and structures are we using to ensure successful change?
p.73 A cause rarely makes a direct, immediate impact on every effect it is linked to. Furthermore, there
is rarely a single cause behind most things in this world... Most of us know this in the abstract (or at least sense it);
yet in practice, we still think in terms of immediate, singular causes and effects... If we stop for a moment and
take a good look at our world and its seven levels of complex and interdependent systems, we begin to understand that multiple
causes with multiple effects are the true reality, as are circles of causalities-effects.
p.99 There are a number of elements integral to organizing and creating a learning organization... it is
important to realize that the organization's internal capacity for responding to and initiating change is linked to
its capacity for learning, feedback and organizational renewal... the best system is an inexact adaptive-learning,
ideal-seeking system.
p.108 Obviously, to satisfy customer needs and thus achieve the desired outcomes, an organization
must deal with a dynamic, changing environment.
p.192 Success in today's world requires a systems approach to managing your organization in a more complete,
strategic fashion. The tools you have learned in this guidebook will help you, but you must use them in an integrated fashion.
A strategic management system is thus a fundamental necessity.
p.192 In one way or another, we are forced to deal with complexities, with "wholes" or "systems"
in all fields of knowledge. This implies a basic reorientation in scientific thinking. -Ludwig Von Bertalanffy"
p.199 Summary of Systems Thinking and Learning
Systems thinking offers us a better way of expressing ourselves, understanding the world, and living our
personal and professional lives than do the old analytic and mechanistic thinking modes. The systems perspective
gives us a better view on our "radar scope" and thus a more effective method of thought, communication, problem solving,
and action. Without it, today's thinking and problem solving become the source of tomorrow's problems.
p.200 Principle: In the environment, living systems interact in a hierarchy.
