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SYSTEM TOOLS
AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
DEFINING SYSTEMS THINKING
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Systems Thinking is a thought process about synthesis (grouping together) as opposed to analysis (pulling apart). It assists to clarify perceptions of how a particular problem/issue eventuates by considering it as a whole rather than trying to break it up into individual parts.
Systems Thinking is characterised by:
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Identifying the major parts which comprise the whole;
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Understanding the interrelationships between the parts that demonstrate patterns of change rather than events in time;
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Identifying and understanding feedback between the parts that are facilitated by the relationships. The relationships are usually complex so that a small change in one part of the system can lead to large, unpredictable changes throughout the system;
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The system's unique emergent properties which are more than just the sum of the individual parts which make up the system (eg 2H + O = H O the combination of two gases produce a liquid which has very different qualities to the parts that combined in a unique way to create the emergent property of liquid water); and that
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Changes to one part of the system will affect the rest of the system while changes to the system will affect every part in the system through the interrelationships between the parts.
We would work with you to identify and understand the components of and the relationships between the different components of the system that is of interest to you (eg the external business landscape, a market category, an industry, the culture of your organisation). This will assist you and your team to make sense of the current and emerging dynamics that are shaping your system of interest. We would capture this information and present it using visual models. The principles of systems thinking are presented clearly when we can draw the key factors and the relationships between them. Such a model is called a systems map.
DEFINING SYSTEMS MAPS
A systems map is a visual model of defined key factors (components) and the causal relationships between them that are shaping the dynamics of the issue/challenge (considered as a system) of interest. The map defines the boundaries of what is considered to be included in the system to support sense making and provide insights to effectively respond to the issue/challenge of interest. Many of the relationships between the components comprise of multiple, non-linear (a small change in one factor can lead to a non-proportional large change in another factor) feedback loops that create behaviours and responses to changes to and from within the system in unpredictable ways. The map represents the dynamics of a system.
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A systems map emerges from:
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Research work that can take many different forms. The map is a representation of the research work as perceived by a group of individuals; and/or
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A series of conversations by a group of people. The map represents the results of a series of dialogue sessions exploring the issue/challenge of interest.
We will work with you to apply systems thinking principles and systems mapping processes to enable your business to gain a more informed understanding of the issues you are experiencing and to enhance decision-making processes.
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By reading the map, one can determine the patterns of behaviour of the system. It can be used to test a variety of strategies and promote discussion on the possible implications of decisions before they are implemented.
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Systems thinking and mapping are useful tools when the system under consideration is stable. Despite its stability there is no clear or obvious understanding how it works nor explanation for its demonstrated patterns of behaviour. This is resolved by undertaking research to uncover the components of the system and the interrelationships that exist between them.
Examples of this include:
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A manufacturing plant when considered as a whole
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A stable consumer market;
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Marketing campaigns
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The search for oil and mineral deposits
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Designing buildings and other structures
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An old culture within a team or organisation
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Long established organisational work practices
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“ IN THE UNIVERSE, THERE ARE THINGS THAT ARE KNOWN, AND THINGS
THAT ARE UNKOWN, AND BETWEEN THESE, ARE DOORS”
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WILLIAM BLAKE
DEFINING COMPLEX ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS
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The principles of a Complex Adaptive Systems are concerned with systems that are not stable. These are systems where large number of factors evolve with one another and with the broader environment based on local rules of interaction. The system and the factors work together to provide a “constraint” or “criteria” on how the interactions and evolutionary process happens and so the future state / behaviour of the system is not predictable.
Examples of this include:
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Health and well-being in an organisation / industry
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When a new leader is introduced into an organisation affecting the design and culture
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Dynamic consumer sectors such as clothing, food, technologies
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Biological systems such as rainforests and marine environments
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The Covid 19 pandemic
We use a range of heuristics, tools and processes that are available to assist you to better respond and adapt when working with complex adaptive systems
SENSEMAKING USING SENSEMAKER®
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Whether dealing with stable or unstable systems, people are often confronted with events, structures, patterns of behaviours and issues that do not fit within their understanding of the world. When this imposes on achieving their outcomes, it generates a process of “making something sensible” -sense making- so that they can make an informed decision and continue with what they want to achieve. The increasing complexity of the business landscape is challenging people’s capability for “making something sensible” and so affecting effective decision-making. In many situations decision-makers revert to what they know and respond to the challenge by ignoring the issues or working harder with current approaches.
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People make sense of their life conditions and issues by crafting stories of their experiences. When working with systems and especially those that are dynamic, the capture of people’s narrative about their situation is a method for inquiry into beliefs, values, perceptions, insights and attitudes.
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We use the proprietary tool called Sensemaker® to assist in the collection of narratives from within an organisation, industry or community on-scale to identify the emerging patterns that are shaping your system. We would work with you and others to make sense of these patterns to inform change taking advantage of the evolutionary potential of the present to shape action and direction in real-time. Our processes are deliberately focused on capture of narrative from the collective. The insights gained from the narrative collection is a facilitated through workshps of those who contributed their narratives. Experts play the role of facilitators of meaning to enable insights for action- not for analysis and development of a report that suggests “next steps”.
OUR APPROACH INVOLVES DEVELOPING PEOPLE AS WELL AS THE TRAINING ON THE USE OF OUR TOOLS AND METHODS.
PEOPLE NEED TO BE DEVELOPED SO THAT THEY ARE READY TO MAKE EFFECTIVE AND GENERATIVE USE OF TOOLS AND METHODS RATHER THAN JUST TRANSACTIONAL APPLICATION
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DR GARY SALIBA - DIRECTOR | STRATEGIC JOURNEYS
PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF NEURO BEHAVIOURAL MODELLING®
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Excellence in human performance is achieved through structurally repeatable neurological processes that are largely out of conscious awareness. For example, when exceptional innovators are interviewed, similar and in most cases, identical unconscious processes can be discovered and captured to learn how they can achieve such remarkable results. The same can be said for a surgeon, a dancer, a farmer, a sales person, an athlete and so on. The information gained from behavioural modelling processes can be used to enhance or design new approaches to improve human capability and performance.
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We can assist you to identify the unconscious neurological processes that influence excellence in human performance in your industry and/or business and apply this information for accelerated improvement in performance and organisational results.
METHODS OF SCENERIO PLANNING
No one can predict or forecast the future with any accuracy. The best that can be done is to understand what plausible futures can eventuate and be prepared for whatever evolves. One way to do this is to adopt the process of scenario development. This is an approach which was developed and successfully implemented by Royal Dutch Shell in dealing with the oil crisis of the 1970’s.
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Scenario development provides a framework for decision-makers to understand how current trends and forces for today’s world can interplay with one another and unfold to create alternate plausible future worlds- it is a study in uncertainty. Scenarios are stories based on alternate views of the interplay of uncontrollable parameters in an organisation’s external business landscape. They are not the multiplication of a number of variables, nor a group of forecasts. Scenarios describe different worlds for a business, not just different outcomes of the same world Wack (1985).
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Scenarios allow decision-makers to consider what alternatives they may have today about tomorrow, with an understanding of the implications of those alternatives. The main purpose for scenario development is to challenge beliefs, perceptions and assumptions about the business and its external landscape.
We can assist you and your team to develop and use scenarios as a means to challenge belief systems by exploring the nature of uncertainty and how it can affect the current and future direction of your business.
A VIABLE SYSTEMS MODEL FOR DESIGNING ORGANISATIONS
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The design of an organisation / business / community represents an underlying set of ideas, principles and philosophies that determine how that entity will operate in response to the dynamics of the external operating landscape. The design of an entity like an business / organisation will include factors such as: information flows, the definition of business units, how they fit together and the relationships that they have with each other. Such a focus is on how the business / organisation organises itself to respond to current and emerging challenges. This is often missed by people as they tend to focus on the organisational chart as the mechanism to define business / organisational structure.
An organisational chart identifies the power / reporting relationships between people. This is useful in its own right. However, it does not define how the business / organisation works and functions. The complexity of the business environment requires a more sophisticated approach to enable an entity to operate in a flexible and dynamic way so that it can meet its own outcomes.
We can assist you to use the Viable Systems Model (VSM) to design/redesign your businesses / organisations / communities based on the principles of systems. The model is based on the principles of information feedback that enables people to enhance their ability to manage the complexity that they are dealing with.