Every place that I have worked had systemic challenges. Your workplace is probably no different. Local and State government, small business, large corporate organizations, non-profit organizations, and the Federal government, all have systemic problems that plagued the team and killed effectiveness. Systemic challenges or problems in the workplace are those problems that are bigger than just one or two personality conflicts. They are the problems that are sometimes caused by years of cultural or strategic misalignment with the tactical goals of the organization. They typically impact all facets of the organization. Here is an important fact: Every company has them. No one is exempt. At some level, there are systemic issues in every organization that negatively impact performance. It is what the organization choses to do about it that will set it apart from the others.
We must think differently if we are going to really change our businesses
Many organizations focus on fixing the short term problems to address the immediate concerns. They do not look at the root cause from a systems perspective and develop a strategy to over come those challenges that they know about and the ones they have yet to encounter. Organizations that are able to think of their problems systemically and take a disciplined, strategic approach to resolving them could be considered on their way to becoming learning organizations. Peter Senge, an MIT professor has a great book on the subject titled "The Fifth Discipline" It is a must read for organizational managers who want to create deep and lasting, positive change in their teams. (Click here for more information on Senge)
Systems Thinking
Corporate leadership teams often make decisions that will benefit the short term, while sacrificing the long term. For example, an organization may choose to limit sales people, travel budgets, cut out the training department, or eliminate research & development. While these may result with quick win cost savings in the short term they limit the organizations viability over the long term. These companies will be less able to succeed in an ever competitive business environment. Systems thinking is generally oriented towards the long term view. When truly and whole heartedly implemented, systems thinking results in organizations that continually learn from their experiences and apply those lessons to future activities.
Some final thoughts
Your workplace or church may be one of those places that have made bad long term decisions in favor of the short term. You may be very frustrated with your management and with the company as a whole because of it. What should you do? Fortunately, you have options. You can be part of the problem or part of the solution. You can develop a systemic view of your situation and find ways to cause long lasting change. Senge identifies 5 disciplines that are necessary to build a learning organization.
- Personal mastery - Learning organizations are made up of learning individuals. People have to consistently work towards becoming better at what it is that they do.
- Improving your mental model - Mental models are ‘deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures and images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action' (Senge, 1990)
- Building a shared vision - People do not excel at their tasks because they are told to, its because they want to. People do not respond to a dictated vision. The leader has to have the ability to impart a shared vision that galvanizes the team
- Team learning - Team learning is the process of aligning and developing the capacities of a team to create the results its members truly desire.
- Systems thinking - As discussed above, systems thinking is a way to view the organization as a whole, rather than its constituent parts. It involves understanding the long term impact of strategies on the entire organization, rather than the short term results of decisions made for the here and now.
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