The Laws Of The Fifth Discipline

 Ever have a bump in you carpet?  Sales are off. Why?  Why are drug related crimes up?  Solutions that merely shift problems to another part of the system are often undetected.  Why?  Those who “solve” the first problem are different from those that inherit the new problem.

 Ever read Orwell’s “Animal Farm”?  The horse Boxer always had the same answer to any difficulty ◦ I will work harder  At first it’s inspirational  Gradually this backfires in subtle ways ◦ The harder he worked, the more work there was to do

 Managers will “use” and manipulate people for personal gain  This blinds others from seeing what’s happening as well  “Compensating Feedback” ◦ When well intentioned interventions bring responses from the system that offset the interventions

 The more effort you expend trying to improve something, it seems the more effort is required  Such as? ◦ Low income housing ◦ Food aid overseas ◦ Marketing campaigns ◦ Smoking ◦ The “mama’s boy”

 So we push the system harder  Glorifying the suffering of having to work so hard  Blinding ourselves to how we’re contributing to the problem

 Compensating Feedback usually involves a delay ◦ Time lag between short term benefit and long term disbenefit  “Political Decision Making” ◦ Counterproductive; not based on intrinsic merits of alternative courses of actions ◦ Looking good ◦ Pleasing the boss ◦ Building your own power base

 The key word is????

 Eventually ◦ THIS is why systemic problems are so hard to recognize  Initial improvement  Maybe the problem even disappears  Months? Years? The problem will return, or a new one will replace it ◦ And by this time someone new is in charge ◦ So here we go again…

 So there was this drunk…  We find comfort applying familiar solutions to problems  Pushing harder on familiar solutions while the fundamental problem persists, or worsens  BFH  “What we need here is a bigger hammer!” syndrome

 Sometimes the familiar solution is not only ineffective; it’s addictive and dangerous  Alcoholism ◦ Simple social drinking used as a cure for low self esteem or work stress  The consequence is more and more of the “solution” in non systemic solutions  Think “Shifting The Burden” ◦ Government intervention programs ◦ Mama’s boys ◦ Ability to do math ◦ Writing

 In business we bring in “consultants” ◦ Over time the intervener's power grows, be it a drug, alcohol, military budget over an economy  Any long term solution must “strengthen the ability of the system to shoulder it’s own burdens”  Instead of offloading HR issues to the HR department, maybe you should….? ◦ Learn how to deal with people!

 Give me a “for instance”… ◦ The tortoise and the hare  All systems have optimal rates of growth ◦ And it’s FAR less that ASAP! ◦ When growth becomes excessive…  The system slows down  These Systems Laws can become an excuse for inaction!  A little knowledge is a dangerous thing  Don’t do “nothing”; Do something different. Think of the System as a whole

 The “effect” is easily seen ◦ Drug abuse, unemployment, starving children, falling orders, sagging profits  The “cause” may not be anything close to the effect! If there’s a problem with: Fix: Manufacturing LineManufacturing Meeting Sales Targets Sales Incentives or Promotions Inadequate HousingBuild More Houses Inadequate FoodGet More food

 In the Beer Game players eventually discover the problem lies… ◦ Correct; within ourselves  The first step is to let go of the notion that cause and effect are close in time and space.

- - But The Areas Of Highest Leverage Are Often The Least Obvious  Systems Thinking teaches us that… actually, you tell me… ◦ The most obvious solutions don’t work. At best they improve matters in the short run, only to make things worse in the long run ◦ But there’s another side

- - But The Areas Of Highest Leverage Are Often The Least Obvious  Small well focused actions can sometime produce significant improvements, IF they’re in the right place.  LEVERAGE  The hard part is that high-leverage changes are usually highly nonobvious ◦ Not close in time and space

- - But The Areas Of Highest Leverage Are Often The Least Obvious  What are trim tabs?  Airplane flaps?

Very unobvious… yet EXTREMELY effective! Think “structure” rather than “events”.

 Sometimes, the problem really isn’t ◦ It’s all in the view  Better/quicker/cheaper… pick 2  Basic improvements in work processes can…  Remember the delay found in system results and inputs?  You CAN have each

 You have to wait for one to catch up while you work on the other  Initially, quality and costs may both go up  But they will catch up to the system  Anyone ever diet? Join a gym?  Real “leverage” lies I seeing how to improve both, or the overall SYSTEM, over time

 Does not produce two small elephants  Three blind men approach an elephant… ◦ The first grabs an ear ◦ The second grabs the trunk ◦ The third a leg The Principle Of The System Boundary The interactions than must be examined are those most important to the issue at hand. Regardless of the organizational boundaries.

 Does not produce two small elephants  Why is this principle difficult to practice in organizations? ◦ Rigid internal divisions ◦ Leaving problems behind for someone else to clean up  Most companies, people, do divide the elephant in half… The result is?

 Stop thinking of whom, or what, to blame  There is no “outside”, no “someone else”  You and the cause of your problems are part of a single system  The “cure” lies in the relationship with your “enemy”  Who’s the enemy? ◦ Not “you” in total, just our way of thinking