Systems and Perspectives - Edition 172 by Rob Lambert
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A Cultivated Life Newsletter
Hi,
I hope you are safe and well and looking forward to the week ahead.
Things are better here at Lambert Towers. No more illness and starting to get back on track with this year. Don't forget you can grab you free Cultivated Creativity guide over on the site.
Today I’m going to talk a little about systems thinking and how looking at work (and life) as a series of systems can help you make sense of what you can and cannot control, what you can influence, and how to put your life (and challenges) into perspective.
The basic idea of systems thinking is that our world is made up of a series of interconnected systems.
These systems connect with each other and have other systems within them. In a sense, we’re all connected in some way. Cause and effect ripples through the systems, sometimes immediately, sometimes it can be imperceptible.
When we look at our life, we see that we live in a community (a system), which is likely part of a wider county /state (a system) and in turn party of a national system.
At work we likely work in a team, which may be a system within a department (a bigger system) which has other teams (systems), which may be part of a division (a system), which may be part of a company (a system). That company is part of an industry (system) and on and on.
As you can see it gets complex quickly which is why it pays to add boundaries and constraints to the system we seek to understand, alter, and operate effectively within.
If we are leaders and managers then we technically own the system underneath us, or at least we can influence it heavily. Hence, adding boundaries helps us to see the effects of our changes, stops us interfering with other systems (although we always overlap) and gives us an area to focus on.
A system has rules, norms, processes, activity and much more. When I talk about changing the system of work, I mean that we change our immediate system under our influence or control (often more easily than we think) and we can also then influence the systems around us.
We can change the rules, the incentives, the processes, the way communication flows and more; thereby changing the system for those in it and possibly getting different results (hopefully better).
Edward Deming said that over 90% of the success of a business is due to the system of work. I’d agree. Yet, many of us spend more time trying to change people in the system, than we do the system they work in.
Systems thinkers often believe that people’s behaviours are a result of the system they work in. I agree. Which is why it’s worth studying and understanding your system. This requires you add edges and boundaries otherwise you’ll end up contemplating life and the universe. And this could take some time.
Understanding the system we operate within helps us understand how we affect this system and its surrounding or bigger systems by our actions. Here’s an example to bring it to life.
If we release terrible code in a software release to our customers and it doesn’t work, we affect our customer’s ability to get things done (affecting their system of work). This in turn typically affects the customer support desk as more calls come in. If we keep releasing bad products and services, it affects sales and marketing and investment etc. Our customers may start working around our failures which affects their business also. We’re all connected.
Another powerful reason to study systems is because it helps us to put things into perspective. When we’re struggling in life and work it can be helpful to zoom out to gain a different perspective. That is, to draw a metaphorical circle around ourselves and keep taking a step back.
“I am this person, in this team, in this organisation, in this city, in this county, in this country, in this global industry. Am I the only one who is having this problem?”
When I do this, it makes me realise how trivial many of my day-to-day challenges really are.
The more you study systems, the more you see them naturally around you. I’ve found that this often leads to more empathy, patience and understanding.
I understand now why things may work as they do, or why people behave in a certain way that I find rude, or the service I am buying fails for some reason. It doesn’t excuse poor behaviour or poor service, but I appreciate they are all part of a system that has constrains, levers, rules etc.
Most systems self-govern or regulate, some have control mechanisms that kick in (think laws, well-being etc) and some don’t so they implode (think banking crashes). But no matter where we go or what we do, we are part of a system and our actions always have consequences, we just may not see them or understand them.
As such, the more we study and know the systems we’re part of, the more we can make systematic changes for the better.
And when you change the system for the better, people’s behaviours change, and different results can happen. But be aware, you may optimise the local system but break the bigger one, so try to follow the consequences of your actions if you can.
So, there you go. A primer on systems. I’ve not done the topic justice, but I hope I’ve shared some ideas to think about.
And if you’re interested, there’s some useful book links on my reading list.
Zooming out and gaining perspective is a clever way to remove some stress and anxiety. Try that next time things get too much for you.
And remember, we’re all connected at some level. Be excellent to each other and fix the broken systems you’re a part of. But don’t try to do this without studying the consequences of your actions.
Until next week.
Rob
Interesting Articles
Love this from Seth Godin - it's not the Gold that's important, it's the rush. We feel we're missing out and we get carried along.
This is AMAZING. Doctors are now able to prescribe a walk in a National Park as treatment. I've written before in this newsletter about the power of nature - and nature features heavily in the Cultivated Creativity guide.
How to increase diversity in the workplace. Much needed.
This is an EXCELLENT article. I know I've used a lot of caps letters in this section but for a good reason. This article is brilliant. It's about why we often get caught up in climbing the HR career levels rather than following the path we really want. I'm only a F4, but they're an F2.
How to build rapport as a new manager in remote times.
Great article on cutting through the nonsense in corporate wording.
Have a cracking week.
Rob
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