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Theory of systems thinking
Theories of systems thinking
Theories of systems thinking
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Peter Senge’s book The Fifth Discipline is truly the authority on “systems thinking.” This is a leadership framework used by organizations to improve learning within their system. Senge further develops a strategy on how we can renew our minds to see the dynamic complexity within any given system. Senge defines an element of dynamic complexity within system thinking as “seeing wholes.” (p. 68). He describes that we can develop a framework to seeing interrelationships rather than just “snapshot.” (p. 68). This is why Senge stresses that we renew our thinking on how we perceive the world: “Perhaps for the first time in history, humankind has the capacity to create far more information than anyone can absorb, to foster far greater interdependency than anyone can manage, and to accelerate change far faster than anyone’s ability to keep pace… organizations break down, despite individual brilliance and innovative products, because they are unable to pull their diverse functions and talents into a productive whole.” (p. 69). As Senge mentions, this is the first time in history that humans a...
Milestone 1: Literacy Analysis Paper: Love means loving someone unconditionally. Loving them with flaws and all. Love is a part of being human. How can you love without accepting the society you live in? Nowlan’s poem
Many people believe that in order to succeed in a business that is having difficulties, it is important to focus on a particular area in order to be better productive in each of them, and be able to reach the goal. Instead, Goldratt and Jonah demonstrates that is important to focus on the company as a whole, but at the same time, it shows that it is incorrectly to only focus in an specific manufacturing department, or one plant, or a department within the plant, because people should not be concerned in local optimums.
When it comes to the topic of addiction, most of us will readily agree that it is a miserable trait to possess. An addiction is a physical and psychological state of being that if not treated correctly could result into harmful wrongdoing. In The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, he recounts a story in which a fatigued housewife named Angie Bachmann lost all of her family’s assets, amounting to a million dollars due to a gambling addiction. Every habit has three components: a cue or a trigger of an automatic behavior to start, a routine the behavior itself, and a reward which is how our brain learns to remember this pattern for the future. According to Duhigg, “you cannot extinguish a bad habit, you can only change it” (63). Duhigg suggests that in order to change ones bad habit the “Golden Rule” must be implied. The Golden Rule is a theory of shifting a habit by retaining the old cue and reward, and tries to change only the routine. Duhigg’s answer to the question in the chapter title, “Are we responsible for our habits?” is simply “Yes.” If we have an awareness of our habits, then we are responsible for their consequences. In the case of Angie Bachmann, she should be held accountable for her gambling debts because she was well aware of her own bad habit and did not try to seek for help.
Chapter 11 of Peter Senge's book, The Fifth Discipline, talks about the idea of Shared Vision, and how this concept has transformed organizations, and individuals working for them, into a cohesive unit of long-term innovative achievement.
In today’s cutthroat environment, this tenet still holds value. Technology giants of today like Google a...
Systems thinking: helps build the framework for the individuals to gain knowledge and the tools to visualize the “big picture”
.... “The set of deep beliefs and assumptions-the story-that develops over time in a learning organization is so different from the traditional hierarchical, authoritarian organization worldview that it seems to describe a completely different world” (Senge, 1994, p. 21).
In his book The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge emphasizes his model of a "learning organization," which he defines as "an organization that is continually expanding its capacity to create its future." A learning organization excels at both adaptive learning and generative learning.
Individuals have their own personalities that can influence their enthusiasm and productivity within an organization. In addition, individuals also form groups and are part of teams that work together to reach a common goal within organization. According to Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly, and Konopaske (2009) dedicated and cohesive teams can have a tremendous impact on organizations effectiveness and the global market. However, all of this happens within the frame-work of office politics and can hinder or enhance the organization’s effectiveness. Therefore, it is important to not only understand individuals, but also groups, teams and office politics within the organization. This will help leaders to plan, organize and motive individuals and groups for the best possible outcome for the organization.
Faced with changing markets and higher competition, more and more firms are struggling to reestablish their dominance, keep market share, and in some cases, ensure their survival. Many have come to understand that the key to competitive success is to transform the way they function. They are reducing reliance on managerial authority, formal rules and procedures, and narrow divisions of work. In effect, companies are moving from the hierarchical and bureaucratic model of organization that has defined corporations since World War II to what can be called the task-driven organization where what has to be done governs who works with whom and who leads. But while senior managers understand the necessity of change to cope with new competitive realities, they often misunderstand what it takes to bring it about.
Bill Gates: “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”
With so many constant changes today with different generations, legal and political circumstances and ever-changing and improving technology sources, organizations have new and recurring issues arising every single day. The reasons for these issues vary widely and develop because of so many different situations. The outcome of the situation depends on many factors including the issue at hand, the management style and the ethics of the organization to simply name a few. These outcomes can certainly make or break an organization if not handled appropriately. The issue I have found to be the most significant is leadership. Within leadership, there is the opportunity for many issues in itself.
There are positives and negative feedback loops in life (Meadows, 1999). The positive serves as an uncontrollable source of growth if not managed; the negative loop serves as an intervention that reduces the self-multiplying power (Meadows, 1999). Like with medical graduates, there are countless positive feedback loops in society reward the winners with the resources for bigger winning next time (Meadows, 1999). However, the opportunity for change exists when understanding the archetypes and relaying the message of thinking as a system. Communication is primordial when individuals, teams, departments, and organizations increase communication capabilities that promote systems perspectives. Systems archetypes provide the language to explain habitual patterns of behavior (Senge, 2006). Mastering systems archetypes promotes the practice of systems perspectives (Senge, 2006). The purpose of systems archetypes is to recondition perceptions, to be abler to observe structures at play and to distinguish the leverage in those structures (Senge,
If we think of organizations as complex social systems, we can appreciate the need for people to represent the system itself -even in times of change and diversity- and that may lead to their maximum development. Without any doubt, this is a difficult role to play by today...
A system has been described a set of linked components and interacting together to fulfill a common purpose. Although not all parts of a system may be working well, they can be engineered to work as desired through various interventions. Systems thinking can be applied to create sustainable solutions. Building a common purpose is a social process done by people for people which start by building shared mental models probably through accelerated learning. Learning how people thinks is very important so that appropriate learning process can be developed to suit them (Covington, 1998, p.2). Traditional approaches to problem solving are no longer valid. As such, this has called for new approaches. People...