A system is a collection of parts that interact with A system has …/media/Employers/Documents... · · 2016-07-21Helpful Actions HR/OD Practitioners can do –Open System

2© Quality & Equality Ltd

A system is a collection of parts that interact with

each other towards a common purpose

A system has “parts/elements” and relationships

acting together as a whole that produces results

Across many levels of system

A system is an interconnected set of elements

that is coherently organised in a way that

achieves something. Each of these parts can

affect the behaviour or properties of the whole;

can not be divided into independent parts and be

effective.

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60% of black & ethnic minority males under 18 years old either . . .

1. have not finished high school

2. are in youth detention camps

3. are victims of homicide

Youth probation offices

© Quality & Equality Ltd

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Quality of

interface

Boundary

maintenance

Natural

Diversity

System

connectivity

inter-

dependence

Whole

System

Open system


Basic properties of system

Open System

ITOINPUT – THROUGH PUT – OUTPUT


Origin System theory by von Bertalanffy, 1976

Input

Organisation is an open system, constantly changing

(context is a key reference point)

Output

What the organisation commits to put out in order to stay

relevant

Throughput

There are important internal components (goals, tasks,

technologies, structures, people, co-ordinating

mechanisms, rewards, leadership and culture)

Interaction

The organisation is an open system constantly interacting

with the environment, influencing it or being influenced

by it, which in turn shapes the internal components in

order to maintain its ability to produce the required

output to stay viable

Organisation as an open systemOpen System

ITO

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THROUGH PUTTHROUGH PUT

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Environment

input

Organisation

output

your

organi-

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your

organi-

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Perfor-

mance

Output

Perfor-

mance

Output


Open System

ITO


Help leaders and staff to have sufficient knowledge of the outside world (economic and political trends, demographic patterns etc.) so

that they can make robust strategic decisions.

Support them to build practices to keep the external environment knowledge current. Build processes to help them to discuss regularly

the impact of external factors on the work they are doing.

Make sure you yourself always have sufficient and robust data from other parts of the organisation when making critical decisions.

Be a role model on how you as an “enabling function” person can take other system data seriously.

When undertaking a decision/action, think of the possible consequences (intended or unintended) the action may have on other

systems.

Helpful Actions HR/OD Practitioners

can do – Open System

Open System

ITO

System Connectivityand

Interdependence

System Connectivity

and Interdependence


Help the leaders and staff to see what the word “interdependence” means by talking about it, educating them, bring a few pictures with

you to meetings.

Grow the awareness that “their” work unit is highly inter-dependent with other parts of the organisation.

Help clients to develop formal relational protocols to build greater alliance with important groups / individuals and use it in any project

work.

Actively help clients group to work together with each other and your staff to be collaborative in daily behaviour.

Remember to stay practical and always ask “what would collaborative behaviours look like?” Practice them.

Ask, “if we do this, how will that impact on . . .”

Helpful Actions HR/OD Practitioners can do – System

Connectivity and Interdependence

System Connectivityand

Interdependence

Quality of interface--

Relationship is top work--

Impact of parts on system

Martin Martin Martin Martin BüberBüberBüberBüber

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I We They

“I – Thou”

The Heart of an Engaged Workforce is “Relationship”

Growing a “relationship is our top work” behaviour pattern in the work place is critical

Make Relationship as the Top Work of all your Leaders


Quality of interface


Encourage leaders to think how they can do more cross-border work with other parts of the organisation, and to build

understanding among themselves – use that as an example to stir others to do the same.

Actively promote respect for the role each part of the system plays in the overall success of the organisation.

Actively role-model collaboration, trading favours, sharing resources, exchanging knowledge, etc, with other parts we have

interdependence with.

Make any change process an “inclusive” one. Help leaders to take relationship as their top work.

Helpful Actions HR/OD Practitioners can

do – Quality of Interface

Quality of interface

Whole-SystemLens


A system is made of many unique and diverse parts

Parts by themselves

Whole-SystemLens


The sum is greater than its parts

Whole – when parts join up?

Whole-SystemLens

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Encourage leaders to build team’s understanding of the challenges facing different parts of your organisation’s operation.

Help them to arrange visits or invite other divisions’ leaders to come to share their work with your team.

Help leaders to grow our mind-set to support the work of each other – to give a more integrated service to each other.

Discuss with clients how they can help to leverage the scale of their knowledge and resources to work more effectively with

others.

Ask “whose perspectives will we need to embrace when we are making critical decisions?” – to get the “whole system

perspective”.



can do – Whole System Lens

Whole-SystemLens

Diversity Gives the System

Edge


Diversity in Nation and Culture


Edge

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Edge

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Demonstrate a “constructive way” for leaders to see diversity in – thinking, approaches, style, gender,

culture, racial/national origin . . . etc.

Explore the type of diversity in your unit currently, and make diversity a legitimate topic in any team

situation and other occasions.

Explore with your team what more you can do to leverage diversity to increase innovative and agile

thinking and behaviour.

Work with HR or OD to arrange further development needed to leverage diversity skilfully

to build agility and innovation.



can do – Diversity


Edge

Boundary Maintenance

Tight – Loose


What boundary pattern can you see here?

Boundary

Maintenance



Boundary

Maintenance



Boundary

Maintenance



Boundary

Maintenance

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Work with client’s team about which outside parts of their system boundary they will need to “get the right balance.”

Find a formal way to help them to regularly solicit other’s view of them and treat their feedback with respect.

Work with your client’s team to identify the mandates of their unit which will give them their our own professional identity

and integrity while humble enough to inquire what they need from another team.

Find leaders to take a lead on seeking feedback from outside. Help them to welcome it as a source of their own

transformational learning. Encourage their team not to be defensive about external feedback.



can do – Boundary Maintenance

Boundary

Maintenance


SYSTEM MAPPING

1. Choose a cluster and name your group

2. Thinking, if you are to deliver your unit objectives, e.g. effective and efficient patient care, whom do we have interdependence with?

3. Then name those units on the map.

4. Rate from 1 – 5 the level of interdependence you have with the 3 most important groups.

5. Rate from 1-5 the level of interdependence you think they will rate about you. Are there any differences between your and their ratings? If so Why?

6. Assess from 1 – 5 the actual level of collaboration you currently have with each other.

7. Think what baby steps you personally can take (or your group) to increase the level of collaboration and improve the quality of exchange.

System Mapping Activity

�Use mixed groups to achieve a rich understanding of how each task and change is seen from different perspectives. This helps to generate a holistic view of what must be done to give the organisation a viable and sustainable future.

�Use diagnostic events to enhance people’s understanding of important interdependencies they have with each other; and to support them in devising a way to help the each other (different sub-systems) to work well together in those areas.

�Use processes that will increase accurate understanding and hence collaboration between and across units that will a) give greater performance; b) honour the primacy of relationship between different grs.

�Whenever possible, bring in outside bodies and data to stimulate the organisation to think about the issues from an outside-in perspective –with an innovative lenses.

�Ask people to identify REAL work issues that affect their work which they want to solve and ask them to self-organise + find others within the system to solve the problems.

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Future organisation

Hierarchical organisation

Institutional organisation

Collaborative organisation

Learning organisation

Virtual organisation

Holacracies organisation

Wirearchies organisation

Network organisation


Communities

Practice

Solve ProblemsTest New Ideas

Work Teams

Share Complex Knowledge

Informal

Structured

Goal-orientated Opportunity-driven

Hierarchies + Communities+ Networks = Wirearchy

Social Networks

Increase Innovation

through Diversity of Ideas

Jarche.com

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Wirearchies1) No to imposed centralised control; Yes to centralised

support2) the autonomous nature of sub-units; 3) High connectivity between the sub-units; 4) The webby nonlinear causality of peers influencing peers

3. 2-10 people; 2-10 week – each project is a PROBE

2. Focused on Results enabled by interconnected people and technology

1. Create the climate for unstructured social networking which will increase

innovation through a diversity of ideas.

5. Balance structured work & the sharing of complex knowledge

4. Communities of practice when link with collaboration will weave the

organisation and its people into a wirearchy


Go for Leadership 3.0

1. Top-down,

authoritative

leadership

2. Elite-level

leadership

1. Leadership that is

networked,

relational, and

engaged in sense-

making

2. Leadership at all

levels of an

organisation and

society

Leadership 2.0 Leadership 3.0

1. Run organisation

as a social

movement

2. Treat all staffs as

volunteers who

are passionate

about the work


Leadership 3.0Run organisation as a SOCIAL

MOVEMENT

� Cultivate activists and multipliers to be connectors

� Build voluntarism� Big aim, open approach� Simples rules, opportunistic, go with

energy� Celebrations� Promote self – organised action


Planned

Transactional

Change

Planned

Transformationa

lChange

Unplanned

Emergent

Change

LEVEL OF

COMPLEXITY

LEVEL OF

INTERVENTIONDirect-Non-

Specific: Process

Consulting

Indirect-Non-

Specific:

Emergent

Consulting

Direct-Specific:

Expert

Consulting

LESS

COMPLEX

MORE

COMPLEXClient’s Needs

Consultant’s Role

INPUT FOR FUTURE INTERVENTIONS

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ITOEnvironmental

InterdependenceBoundaries Homeostasis

Steady state and

dynamic

homeostasis

Entropy Negative Entropy Integration

Differentiation Equifinality Interdependence Feedback Loop

DESIRABLE AND PROBABLE FUTURE