...so that you can do something about it now”
...it’s the product of their interaction.” While we’ve written intermittently about systems and processes, the current VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Comple, Ambiguous) business environment compels us to spend more time on how important systems thinking is to effective leadership. We are using the title quote from the late Russell Ackoff , who was a pioneer in the field of operations research, systems thinking and management science. And to illustrate the importance of the title quote, we will use a case study we came across a year ago to drive the point home. The project was a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota named the New United Motor manufacturing, Inc. or NUMMI for short. The goal of the venture was to apply the lessons Toyota learned around lean manufacturing to a failing GM plant in Fremont, California. The results were dramatic in the increased productivity of the plant proving that transformation could occur with fundamentally the same personnel in the plant before and after the switch. While the application of lean methodologies succeeded in producing much improved results, the lessons learned were ultimately lost on GM leadership. They concluded that it was the processes alone that created the change since the personnel were basically the same. In fact, it was the interrelationships between the processes that carried the success of the venture overall. Today, that plant is owned by Tesla. So, what does that mean in a VUCA business environment? It means that leaders trying to react and flex to pieces and parts of the system that are impacted by change will struggle to solve the problem in a sustainable way. It is understanding that volatility and/or complexity, while deeply affecting one particular part of the system, ultimately has systemic impacts across other systems as well. It also means that uncertainty and/or ambiguity will make it difficult to ascertain where the solution lies without looking at the business through the lens of systems thinking. Now, just for the fun of it, let’s throw in the impact of artificial intelligence (AI). The AI impact has come at the business environment with a vengeance to the point where we are already seeing the strategic and systemic challenges encountered by early adopters. In our estimation, it once again looks like business leaders are adopting AI as a workforce replacement instead of addressing where AI fits into the current and desired systems approach to the business. Once again, the absence of being able to see the interrelationships between systems creates major blind spots and lessons not learned similar to the NUMMI and GM venture. From our 2022 book, “ Finding the Missing Piece : The Impact of Effective Communications on sustainable Success”, we define systems thinking as, “...a holistic approach focusing on how a system’s components work together, how a system operates over time as well as how it operates in the context of other larger systems.” The only way systems can provide the foundational value to the organization is through leaders who can fully appreciate and understand its benefits, especially in a VUCA business environment! How are your leadership interactions enhancing the business systems? If you’re not sure, we can help . Lead Well!
This is a question every leader of any business (for profit or non-profit) of any size and any industry or market needs to regularly ask themselves. It is a critical question in that it establishes the very reason a leader earns the privilege of being called a leader.
In a recent LinkedIn post, the conversation centered on the Dr. W. Edwards Deming quote, “94% of problems in business are systems driven and only 6% are people driven.”
...is a privilege.” As the year progresses, we find ourselves having consistently more conversations with our client leaders around the stresses of leading in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) business environment. So much so that we will make it the core topic of this month’s discussion. The title of this edition comes from a YouTube video a client recently referred to us in which the actor, Tom Hiddleston, used the phrase in a sports context. However, we believe it also sets up a broader discussion around the stresses of leadership.
...what he thinks he already knows.” This business cycle has already generated a multitude of discussions among leaders from all types of businesses on how to navigate the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) business environment. From individual client leaders to groups of leaders in the multiple leadership institutes we facilitate, the challenge is always how they think about, or frame, the challenges in front of them. In past articles, we tended to focus on critical thinking as the core answer to these challenges. However, in this discussion, we step back a bit and focus on a broader view of the challenges through the lens of systems thinking. In our book, “ Finding the Missing Piece , The Impact of Effective Communication on Sustainable Success”, we define systems thinking as a holistic approach focusing on how a system’s components work together, how a system operates over time as well as how it operates in the context of other larger systems. It is the foundation of our organizational Business Alignment Maturity Model ( BAMM ) we use when coaching business leaders. In the leader conversations, we hear challenges of finding THE problem to solve that will help generate desired results.
..but wisdom listens.” There is little question as to how much effective communications occupies leader’s mindspace in today’s VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) business environment. Leaders in every industry, large or small, public or private, for profit or nonprofit, all face the continuous challenge to communicate effectively to their teams and successfully advance their business strategies. It is fair to say most leaders view themselves as problem solvers. In that vein, it is easy for them to take on the role of problem solvers when issues are brought to their attention. Due to the speed of business, this, in turn, leads to directing resources, monetary or non-monetary, in the direction of the issue to resolve it as quickly as possible. What gets missed is the contextual changes occurring in real time in any dynamic business environment so that whatever knowledge the leader thinks they know in the moment may well be outdated without making the time to listen for current verifiable context. The title quote by the late great rock star Jimi Hendrix succinctly outlines the value of listening for greater leadership success.
...you are choosing.” Lately, we’ve written extensively about effectively leading in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) business environment. It is an environment that begs for change given the ever changing external drivers and conditions. Regardless of business type (for profit or nonprofit), industry, or size (corporate leader or SMB business owner), the current environment presents an ongoing stream of challenges leaders must tackle. The title quote by Laurie Buchanan, Coach and Author, suggests any choices made to address these challenges that does not include change still contain a level of accountability to the consequences of those decisions.
...is like administering medicine to the dead.” As we begin a new year, leaders continue to face off against influences and challenges to their businesses requiring level-headed thinking and courage to navigate effectively. One only has to gain access to a technology screen to see what is happening (mostly negative) in the world having some impact on people’s perceptions and thinking. While we have written extensively about critical thinking, most recently in July of last year , we are taking a slightly different approach this time and focusing on the use of reason. Reason is defined as the power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments by a process of logic (dictionary.com). What inspired the focus on reason was the title quote by Thomas Paine, an English American political activist, author, and political theorist whose writings influenced American thinking at the beginning of the revolutionary war.