Systems Thinking

In our experience, many approaches to building Systems Thinking capacity describe Systems Thinking as something akin to having a gestalt of understanding, of being able to appreciate and sense the systems of which we are apart and wish to influence. To those wishing to build practical, how to apply it tomorrow Systems Thinking skills, this is less than helpful in encouraging and supporting them developing the skillset. Barry Richmond saw this challenge as similar to a basketball player who needs to develop several capacities (dribbling, shooting, passing, free throws) and then integrate them into their game. He identified eight skills that when developed and integrated into an overall skillset, build the Systems Thinking muscle of individuals and organizations. These eight skills are:


Below is the contrast between the Systems Thinking Paradigm and what I call the Common Operating Paradigm.


We have found that the skills can be used in activities ranging from being applied in a meeting (just a couple minutes) to building a complex scenario planning tool (taking months). The basic skills of problem-framing and analysis using Systems Thinking can be learned in a few days, and deepened over time. Learning to develop and apply stock and flow maps (the language of Systems Thinking) c
an, with extra investment, lead to increasing value-added to the organization. At the far end of the continuum, the organization can develop a handful of analysts and strategists who can develop simulation models to capture the full value of all that Systems Thinking has to offer.




Culture (Building Conversational Capacity)

As a concept, conversational capacity is easy to grasp. It's the degree to which a group can engage tough, difficult, complex, thorny issues without allowing defensive reactions to swamp their efforts. If a team has high conversational capacity, they can engage even the toughest of issues without breaking down into arguing, avoiding, changing the subject, withdrawing, and any number of other defensive reactions. Low conversational capacity means that even the smallest issue can be a frustrating barrier to progress.

When dealing with an adaptive challenge, where the issues are systemic, hard to diagnose, and where competing definitions of the problem often exist, high conversational capacity is vital to progress. But under adaptive circumstances conversational capacity tends to drop, because the ambiguity, confusion, conflict, and tension arising from an adaptive situation trigger strong defensive reactions. In other words, when we need our best conversations we're often at our worst.

But while simple in concept, building conversational capacity can be very difficult in practice. We're born with innate tendencies that get triggered under stressful, pressured, conflict-laden circumstances, leading to automatic behaviors that reduce our ability to pull together productively. Fortunately there are specific ways to build the conversational capacity of a group, and to do it while they work on real issues. The frameworks and skills we help clients learn and apply bring more discipline and focus to such vital activities as problem solving, decision making, brainstorming, and orchestrating change. These skills are grounded in an impressive body of social science research. It's not stuff we just made up.


Leadership

We work with leaders (whether formal or informal within an organization or system) building skills while focusing on real issues they need to engage. Because of this, our approach builds leadership not through theory inculcation, but through a process of testing and improving while doing the work of leadership. We facilitate leadership skills development through...

  1. BulletStrategy mapping

  2. BulletDeveloping performance monitoring systems (dashboards, scorecards)

  3. BulletTesting strategy with scenario planning, microworlds, and learning labs

  4. BulletAddressing organizational defensive routines head on through strategic conversations

 

Integral Elements

Systems Thinking

Culture

Leadership