Systems blindness

People fail to do smart things, even though it's obvious to everyone else what the right thing to do is .
I have done that also:I have done dumb things even when knowing in my heart , that it was dumb.For example I did drive to fast , in a street with speed limit of 50km/h,I've punished my daughter because she had a bad school report, etc .Everything had a reason to do it , but i didn't see the impact of my decisions on other things neither the unexpected consequences.
Also in the company I've worked , I have seen this :people are desperating at the dumb things their managers are doing.They trow their hands up in frustration at the dumb things the company ask them to do.
By this I am not saying that people are dumb, but their are many factors as to why we do dumb things.
Company's has policies, procedures, tasks, structure , communication lines  in place which will create a system,culture and behavior.This system will say  what the people in the system has to do , and how they have or will behave.
When the system is pushing for the short term decisions , internal competition, control and other dumb( read not for purpose) things , you cannot blame the people in the system:
It is often the system of management that is dumb, not the people within it.
You cannot blame the people for playing by the rules, you set for the game, and it is unfair to say your manager is dumb when they are doing what the system is set up for them to do.

This is where leadership is coming:Avoid systems blindness!!-See the relationships in a system!

- We have to be convinced that our organisations are open systems with a well defined purpose, and that the emergent property of this system is not the sum of the performances of the elements , but defined by the interrelationships and dynamics between the elements and subsystems.
- Senior leaders has to recognize these dynamics by taking a bigger picture view.They have to diagnose the working of the whole, and not seeing the business as a bunch of bits and peaces , some working well and sum working badly.
- Senior leaders has to recognize that system behavior and rules will impact the people behaviors.
- The place to exert influence ( the leverage point) is not to focus on what the people are doing, but at the level of values and mindsets.Culture is the thing out of which the results!!
- Senior leaders has to promote ongoing learning, and has to emphasize on the importance of key relationships in the business:they have to be created and maintained by information and knowledge.

Jaarlijkse evaluatiegesprekken

De tijd van evaluatiegesprekken is terug aangekomen , en zal terug aanleiding geven tot veel frustaties, gevoel van onrecht,ongeloof in het systeem en wantrouwen in de eerlijke beoordeling.

 In mijn vroeger bedrijf hadden we het evaluatiesysteem PPR:People-Performances-Result.
De titel van het programma laat uitschijnen dat enkel door de efficientie van de mensen ,goede resultaten verkregen worden en dat die er enkel voor verantwoordelijk zijn .
Volgens W.Edwards Deming 85-15 regel zijn de prestaties van de werknemers meer afhankelijk van het systeem waarin ze zich bevinden , dan van hun eigen akties.
En de ervaring heeft me dit ook bewezen :

Er werd vertrokken van de visie en doelstellingen van het bedrijf , die vertaald werden naar de doelstellingen van de verschillende departementen en verder naar de persoonlijke doelstellingen van de werknemers .Logischerwijze zou er een verbinding en relatie moeten zijn tussen de verschillende resultaten , maar de realiteit is anders:
- Door het beloningssysteem focust iedereen op zijn eigen resultaten.
- Voor het niet behalen van de doelstellingen , word er een schuldige gezocht.
- Doelstellingen worden om de haverklap gewijzigd.
- Opgelegde doelstellingen krijgen tegenwind.

De organisatie is een systeem van elementen en subsystemen die met elkaar verbonden zijn , en waarvan de prestatie van één element beinvloed wordt door andere maar ook een invloed heeft op de andere.Die elementen en subsystemen zijn mensen , departementen, processen, communicatiekanalen .
Door die interrelaties , is het dan ook zo dat goede of mindere prestaties niet onmiddelijk de verantwoordelijk zijn van het individu , maar van het systeem en  degenen die het systeem beheren.
We moeten dus eerst kijken naar het systeem en dan naar het individu.
- Wat is de doelstelling van het systeem en subsystemen?
- Is die doelstelling goed gecommuniceerd?
- Wat is de structuur van het systeem?
- Wat zijn de relaties in het systeem?
- Wat zijn de knelpunten in het systeem?
- Wat is de verantwoordelikheid en rol van het individu in het systeem?
De gepaste vragen stellen aan het individu gaan eerst het systeem evalueren , en dan het individu.Hier enkele voorbeelden .
- Op wat ben je trots in je werk?
- Wat wil je leren of verbeteren in je functie?
- Wat in de organisatie verhindert je , je functie beter uit te voeren?
- Wat heb je nodig van je collega's?
Antwoorden op die vragen , kunnen hefboompunten zijn om het systeem aan te passen en zo automatisch de individuele prestaties te verbeteren.

Organisaties moeten bewust worden dat de globale resultaatsverbetering niet de som is van de individuele verbeteringen maar het resultaat van de interactie's tussen de verschillende elementen , die gezamelijk naar de globale doelstelling streven: het is de collectiviteit die telt!!!

The old lady

Dear friends ,
I want to start the year 2013 with a poem.
It's a poem about an old lady , who has trapped herself in a non-ending reinforcement cycle , with a catastrophic result:she died!!
It's not a poem of myself .the original poem has been written by Rose Bonne and Alan Mills in 1952( I was 3 years old), and put in lyrics by different people:the most known Peter, Paul&Mary.

Here it comes:

I know an old lady

I know an old lady who swallowed a fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die.

I know an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die.

I know an old lady who swallowed a bird,
How absurd to swallow a bird!
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die.

I know an old lady who swallowed a cat,
Imagine that, to swallow a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die.

I know an old lady who swallowed a dog,
My, what a hog, to swallow a dog!
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die. 

I know an old lady who swallowed a goat,
Just opened her throat and swallowed a goat!
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die.

I know an old lady who swallowed a cow,
I wonder how she swallowed a cow?!
She swallowed the cow to catch the goat,
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die.

I know an old lady who swallowed a horse,
She's dead, of course!!

Different perspectives

One of the cornerstones of a learning organisation is that the members of this organisation has a shared vision on the purpose of the organisation.
But are you sure that everybody understand the purpose in the same way?
The first step is to see the organisation as a dynamic open system, where are elements has to see the systems in different perspectives, in order to see what the real purpose is :be curious what the work of others is, what there mental models are, learn on what you didn't see, be reflective, change the structure and evaluate!
A example in the difference of perspective:

            A

B         W      C

             D      
-What is A,B,C,D seeing?
-What is where for all?

In this example A, B, C ,D are a group and not a system.To have a shared vision on the inner letter, A,B,C,D should be connected together by feedback loops in order to create a dialogue and learn from each other.
Be open-minded: by seeing things differently , you think differently!

Season Greetings

Season's Greetings and a succesful year 2013
Each end of the year,we make the intention to do better next year: more success in our professional life, more relaxation with our family, a better work-life balance, etc. ..
But our society is becoming more complex, with rapid changes and more uncertainties.
Therefore …. look 360 ° around you, see the world from different perspectives in order to discover the opportunities that will make the year 2013 a fantastic year.




 I wish you: a prosperous and happy 2013

Ides