Basic Information about What Systems Are and How They Work Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D.

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 1 The Three Tiers Personal Stored personal data-- known only to oneself Interpersonal Affiliations Relationships Communication Patterns Individual & Group Behavior Organizational Norms Leadership Style Policies and Procedures Succession Practices Organizational Image Organizational Values “In” and “ Out” Groups Adapted from Pacific Management Systems by Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. © 2008

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 2 Complexity of Systems  As we move among communities that are experiencing decline, we repeatedly confront people who know only vaguely how complex organizational systems operate. Robert Terry, Authentic Leadership, p. 288.

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 3 What Are Systems?  A system is: 1. an assemblage or combination of things or parts forming a complex or unitary whole; 12. the prevailing structure or organization of society, business, or politics or of society in general. Random House Unabridged Dictionary 1993.

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 4 “Every system is exquisitely designed to produce the results it gets. If you want to change the results, you have to change the system.” Mary Beth Cooney

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 5 What Are Systems? (cont’d)  “A ‘system’ is something which must be considered as a whole because each part bears a relation of interdependence to every other part.” Grusky and Miller, p.68.

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 6 Interdependence in a System Development Office Student Organizations government, union, services Hospital Research Workers Union Supervisors Suppliers to University Trustees Administration Deans Public Relations Investments Endowment Banks Curriculum Academic Council Faculty Religious Activities Professional Schools Alumni Parents Financial Aid Placement Office Recruitment Admissions Newspaper Housing Halls, policies Athletics Sororities & Fraternities ROTC One Example Interdependence in a Particular Institution (Higher Education)

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 7 Why do we care about a systems perspective?  Understanding systems enables us to see interrelationships rather than isolated things and patterns of change rather than static “snapshots.” Senge, p. 68

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 8 A systems perspective (cont’d) Systemic Structure (generative) Patterns of Behavior (responsive) Events (reactive)  The systems perspective shows us that there are multiple levels of explanation in any complex situation…In some sense all are equally “true.” But their usefulness is quite different. Senge, pp

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 9 A Systems Perspective (cont’d)  Events explanations—“who did what to whom”— doom their holders to a reactive stance. Event explanations are the most common in contemporary culture, and that is exactly why reactive management prevails.

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 10 A Systems Perspective (cont’d)  The Cycle of Frustration demonstrates the problem of focusing on what is happening in an organization.  If this is your primary way of assessing an institution, making substantive and long-lasting changes will be extremely difficult because you will miss the underlying patterns.  The Cycle of Frustration is particularly evident in organizations that rely on the Events mode of thinking.

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 11 A Systems Perspective (cont’d) Crisis Problem Recognition Intervention High Expectations Disappointment Dormancy The Cycle of Frustration

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 12 A Systems Perspective (cont’d)  Pattern-of-behavior explanations focus on seeing longer-term trends and assessing their implications. They begin to break the grip of short-term reactiveness. At least they suggest how, over a longer term, we can respond to shifting trends.

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 13 A Systems Perspective (cont’d)  The third level of explanation, the “structural” explanation, is the least common and the most powerful. It focuses on answering the question, “What causes the patterns of behavior?”

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 14 A Systems Perspective (cont’d)  The reason that structural explanations are so important is that only they address the underlying causes of behavior at a level that patterns of behavior can be changed.  Structure produces behavior, and changing underlying structures can produce different patterns of behavior. Senge, p. 53.

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 15 How systems work: Only if we understand them can we change them.  Organizations are made up of a number of individuals working together toward a common end: the collective purpose of the total organization.  However, the organization is more than a collection of individuals.  It is also a social organization for the members of the institution; for example, administrators, faculty, staff, and students interact daily with one another.  Senge reminds us that when placed in the same system, people, however different, tend to produce similar results.

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 16 How systems work. (cont’d)  The systems perspective tells us that we must look beyond individual mistakes or bad luck and beyond personalities and events to understand important problems.  We must look into the underlying structures which shape individual actions and create the conditions where types of events become likely. Senge, pp

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 17 The Three Tiers Personal Stored personal data-- known only to oneself Interpersonal Affiliations Relationships Communication Patterns Individual & Group Behavior Organizational Norms Leadership Style Policies and Procedures Succession Practices Organizational Image Organizational Values “In” and “ Out” Groups Adapted from Pacific Management Systems by Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. © 2008

© 2009, Frances E. Kendall, Ph.D. 18 Resources  Compiled and adapted from chapters in  The Sociology of Organizations, Basic Studies, Second Edition, Oscar Grusky and George A. Miller, Eds. New York: Free Press, 1981;  The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge, New York: Currency Doubleday, 1990; and  The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, Peter Senge, Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts, Richard B. Ross, and Bryan J. Smith, New York: Currency Doubleday,  Authentic Leadership, Robert W. Terry, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993.