Jul 17, 2015
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE@TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE [email protected]
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
time
energy
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
Energy, enthusiasm, training and
peptalks
’It kind of petered out’
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
The problem of …
Choose a sticky problem
you are experiencing
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
‣ Other people: involved, affecting and/or affected by the situation
‣ Tools, platforms and other resources that are involved
‣ Visualize relations, interactions, flow of information
‣ Visualize problems and pains
‣ Visualize strengths and joys
‣ Add what’s missing to complete the picture
‣ (It may be the thing you always forget to include when you think about this situation)
Let’s call this ”Org doodling’
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
Discuss with your neighbors (3 mins] !
To what degree do the people in your picture agree on what the problem is?
!
What can you say about what’s producing the problem, and what’s
making it stick?
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
Unseen structures
Strange behavior
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
I promised to create a testing dashboard, but it’s
gonna have to wait
tid
energi
Visible structures
Understood behavior
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
Prio number one now, is to work on the
backlog.
Tight deadline = no slack
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
A conscious way of thinking about the structures affecting us
Systems thinking
Visible structures
Thinking about structures
Understood behavior
Thinking
Systems
Behavior
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
The way we think …
… causes us to create certain structures …
… that has a certain kind of influence on us
1300 1600 1900
Age of machines
Age of systems
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
Middle Ages Renaissance
Environment
System
Part
Part
Part
Part
Part
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
SYSTEMS THINKING FOR THE REST OF US @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SESEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
The performance of a system is not the sum of its parts, it is
the product of their interactions.
The essential parts
SYSTEMS THINKING FOR THE REST OF US @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SESEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
Improving the parts individually does often not lead to an improvement of
the whole
SYSTEMS THINKING FOR THE REST OF US @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SESEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
We need to focus on the interactions (not just the actions)
of the parts of the system.
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
Discuss with your partner (5 mins] !
Which interactions might hold the key to ”unsticking” your problem?
What new questions or insights about your ”mess” do you have now?
Try to see more of the system
Build your understanding of the system
Tweak the system, not just
the parts
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
It should be easier to do what’s right
Start simple, but involve more people: Draw, doodle, think
together
Why are we getting the results we’re getting?
SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE @TOFO | CITERUS.SE | TOBIASFORS.SE
”It’s not so much about systems, but how to use yourself in the system” – Edie Seashore
Want to learn more? Study: ‣ Gerald M. (Jerry) Weinberg ‣ Russell Ackoff ‣ http://bit.ly/eliminera