Seeing Systems

SEEING SYSTEMS

Systems citizenship starts with seeing the systems that we have shaped and which in turn shape us. As the players in the beer game learned, being stuck in a system that is not working invariably leads to feeling frustrated and trapped—until we see the larger patterns and our own part in creating these patterns. Once we do, new alternatives become evident.

There are two fundamental aspects to seeing systems: seeing patterns of interdependency and seeing into the future. The ability to see interdependencies can be aided by tools like systems diagrams, but can also arise from stories, pictures, and songs. Seeing into the future starts with knowing how to interpret signs that are present today but go unrecognized by those without a systems perspective.

Seeing interdependencies that have been invisible to us leads to a particular kind of awakening, “knowing what we knew but didn’t know that we knew.” Several years ago, two different engineering specialty groups within a large product development team mapped how they inadvertently created problems for one another.2

When one group (the NVH [noise-vibration-harshness] engineers) had a vibration problem and applied a quick fix, like “adding reinforcements,” rather than working with the other group on a more integrated solution, the side effects, such as the added weight of the reinforcements, often affected the second group. The second development group (who were responsible for the total weight of the vehicle) then followed suit: eschewing a collaborative solution with the NVH engineers, they simply took out the weight elsewhere and compensated with their own quick fix, such as specifying a higher tire pressure to meet safety requirements. But the higher tire pressure had the side effect of increased harshness, which then became a whole new problem for the NVH engineers. When both groups saw the diagram together, they recognized a pattern that had plagued them for years, a reinforcing reliance on quick fixes caused by schedule pressures and an unwillingness to take the time to work out integrative solutions—and they knew how it had arisen. As they sat there, shaking their heads, they also saw what this pattern meant for their future: escalating hostilities and inferior overall product designs. Finally, someone said, “Look what we’re doing to ourselves.”

My experience is that when people truly see a systemic pattern that they have created and comprehend the suffering it will create in the future, they invariably discover ways to change the pattern. For these engineers, changing the pattern meant simply developing trust and working more closely together to achieve their goals, and they did just that. Spurred by several other similar awakenings, the larger team eventually finished the major new model car they were developing one year in advance, and returned over $60 million in allocated but unneeded “overrun budget.”