Transformation of inputs into outputs – this is the process by which the goals are obtained. I found the above line while poking around some system thinking pages on Wikipedia. This is a basic idea of not only systems thinking but also the process approach mentioned in a previous post. It’s also key to leadership.… Read More
Profit comes when the job is done right.
“Profit comes when the job is done right.” This idea came up during a discussion with a friend of mine about facilitating a paradigm shift at work. When a company is focused on profit, project centricity becomes primary. This is natural as project management is critical to managing earned value in the quest to maximize… Read More
What is a Learning Organization?
The idea of a learning organization is typically associated with companies that continuously transform and adapt to remain competitive in business. Peter Senge coined the idea from his research of systems at the MIT Sloan School of Management and work with colleagues. A learning organization has five main features: systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models,… Read More
Leveraging Our Interactions
Our paradigms are the beliefs about how our world works and ultimately guides our actions. As Andrew Bernstein points out in The Myth of Stress, “We don’t see things as they are. We see things as we believe them to be.” Thus, if we can change or alter our paradigm to better integrate into our… Read More
Why shouldn’t we grow continuously?
We are a set of interacting elements forming an integrated whole with relationships within ourselves and to other systems beyond ourselves. There is a structure and interconnectivity within our mental models that connect with our environment. The behavior we exhibit is unique to our personal system. We are open systems exchanging matter and energy with… Read More
We the System
A system is a set of connected things, parts or elements forming a complex whole. It can also be an organized theme or set of principles or processes according to which something is done. We are a system of mental, physiological, psychological and spiritual subsystems, elements and patterns. Likewise people around us are systems in… Read More
Living through Exchanging Energy
From the most basic of life processes within our cells to the largest animals on the planet, without movement there is no life. This relates to the idea discussed above of the open system. Living systems are open systems that continually exchange matter and energy with their environment. To iterate the idea from Dr. Kravitz,… Read More
Thinking about our Roots
Root Cause is a way of thinking that allows us to continually improve complex systems with both manageable and emergent properties. It implies an ordered sequence of events. However, having worked many root cause analyses as a quality engineer, within complex and even simple systems the causal chain is not linear, direct and easy to… Read More
Finding the Essence
There is a feeling, thought and spirit that is you. Do you know it? Within this feeling, thought and spirit is our fundamental essence which has intrinsic value, usefulness and worth. It is the root of our experience. It is the basis of our interaction, integration and interconnectivity with our universe. It is also the… Read More
Our Business is Growth
I went to lunch with a couple of colleagues that I consider people who exemplify the principles of this blog. They manage their business. They not only have an idea of what they want out of life but they follow their own purpose. Their actions serve both the greater good of the systems they integrate… Read More
Business of You 