Running Head: Systems Thinking

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Systems Thinking
Management Process

Systems Thinking

2 Table of Contents

Introduction to Systems Thinking
Reflections on readings
Applying SIMILAR to an area needing improvement
Conclusions

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Systems thinking is a very new concept to me. It is an outstanding approach with a global view of the entire system and not viewing each department as a separate entity thus preventing the siloed effect. First and foremost, I think it is critical to define just exactly what constitutes a system. According the Dr. Deming’s book, a system is defined as “a series of functions or activities within and organization that work together for the aim of the organization”
(Latzko, 1995, p. 35). I at first struggled with the systems concept. Using this approach all components of the system gain and not at a cost to another. With that definition in mind we can apply this thinking to any organization or process. I love the analogy Dr. Deming used by looking at an orchestra as a perfect system. My translation of this analogy is that the sum is greater than the parts. The combined efforts of each member of the orchestra are an outstanding product, beautiful music, regardless of the instrument played. All the orchestra members have the same common purpose (Dr. Deming’s 1st point for management). Thus, providing the orchestra members with fulfillment of doing a good job and the people who get to listen to the fine product are pleased customers.
The below flowchart is an example from Dr. Deming’s book of how each area contributes to the overall system.

Latzko, 1995, p. 37
In order to apply the systems approach we first need to have the ability to apply what Dr.
Deming referred to as The System of Profound Knowledge. The System of Profound

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Knowledge consists of 4 key areas: appreciation of the system, theory of variation, theory of knowledge and lastly understanding of psychology. All four areas are equally important in order to have a successful system, meaning one is not more important that the other (although I feel one is). Dr. Deming’s nontraditional approach was unique and not the normal view point. He as certainly a pioneer before his time!
Appreciation of the system is easier said than done. It requires management to embrace the perspective that the entire company (in this example) is one system whereas each department is dependent on another one. All areas are striving for the success of the company and again everyone is a winner and there ultimately are no losers. One department is not gaming the system to make themselves look better and vice versa. In today’s business world I feel this is not the case. It seems that departments compete for success of their areas only at the expense of others. The second area of profound knowledge is theory of variation. Managers and leaders need to be able to assess whether a process is stable. I am compelled to quote Dr. Deming regarding what he stated about processes, “ if you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you are doing” (Dr. Deming). According to Wheeler’s book, “a predictable process displays routine variation” (Wheeler, 2000, p. 32). This can be done by the use of process behavioral control charts. As managers and future leaders we need to be able to tease out noise and signals of exceptional variation and respond to them in the appropriate manner. Responding incorrectly or not at all will hurt the process or product even more and be costly. I am excited to implement this at my current job.
Below are examples of process behavioral charts that we used with our fireworks project.
As you can see on the X chart in 2015 an exceptional variation occurred with 25 fire related calls

Individual Values (X)

exceeding our upper natural process limit.
25

30 20 10

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5

2006

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9

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0 -­‐10 -­‐20 2010

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# of Fireworks Related Calls (X)

Avg of Individ X Values

Upper Natural Process Limit

Lower Natural Process Limit

2015

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And on the mR chart you can see again the mR again exceeded our upper range limit. These tools are incredibly helpful in our recommendations to the town members of Bremerton,

Moving Ranges (mR)

Washington (or can be applied in numerous settings).
30

25

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20 15

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1

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0 2006

2007

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Moving Range (mR)

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Avg Moving Range (mR)

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Upper Range Limit (URL)

The third area of profound knowledge is the theory of knowledge. Knowledge is certainly power, but its theories need constant testing and continuous improvement company wide. As a direct result to the need for testing theories and gaining knowledge Dr. Deming developed the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle to assess processes and products. This cycle is also known as the Deming Wheel or Cycle. The PDSA cycle is a never-ending learning and continuous improvement tool. The cycle can be applied in any setting and not just a work environment. At my current job we are in the midst of deploying a new electronic medical record. I plan to take the PDSA strategy to the decision makers and see it they used this approach. And if not this approach then what approach did they use.
Plan - What is the objective? Whom, what, where and when? Timeline. What data can we collect? Make educated predictions.
Do –Execute the plan. Collect and analyze the data. Study – Finalize analysis of the data.
Compare data findings to predictions. What did we learn?
Act – Do we adapt, abandon or adopt? Make changes and begin the PDSA cycle again.

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The forth and final area of profound knowledge is the theory of psychology. This area in my opinion is critical to the success of any organization and yet probably the most difficult area to master. Determining what makes people tick can be challenging but the pay off is huge. A management team can develop and deploy the best products and process but without the right people in the right seat on the bus the company will fail. People possess intrinsic or extrinsic motivational characteristics. Dr. Deming discusses merit pay and the use of MBO’s in great detail and he does not support the use of these tools to encourage performance. Both Dr.
Deming and David Pink believe that people want to do a good job on their own. Meaning they are intrinsically motivated. Intrinsically motivated people do not need the rewards of carrots or the penalties of sticks to be outstanding performers. They do it for the pure reward of selffulfillment of a job well done.
David Pink discusses what motivates people and he categorized their specific behaviors as either a Type I or Type X. A Type X motivation is derived from extrinsic desires and a Type I is purely intrinsic. According to Pink, “ Type I’s almost always outperform Type X’s on the long run “ (Pink, 2009, p. 76). Of which makes total sense to me. Type I’s are in it for the long haul and long term ability to control their own destinies. Another interesting concept is that according to Pink, our default setting is a Type I (Pink, 2009, p. 77). We are born with intrinsic desires to be motivated but exposures to life experiences convert us to Type X. The good news is that there is hope for Type X’s to convert back to Type I’s.

I am certainly a Type I. I thrive on the joy I

feel when I perform well at work, my team is successful or I understand a concept.
I feel now I have enough theoretical knowledge to implement a change where I work.
As an Air Force reservist on any given drill weekend my medical group is responsible for performing approximately 150 physical exams on the base population. These exams include a history, dental, optometry, lab work, immunizations and the actual hands on body physical. The type of exam is 100% dictated by the member’s job in the Air Force. As the commander of my group I plan to take the concepts I have learned in this class and empower my team to make data driven improvements. Areas to be reassessed with my newly found knowledge would be doorto-door times and % of patients that bounce back. Soon we will have the ability to track both areas electronically with the implementation of our new electronic medical record. Currently, these metrics are all tracked manually and this is super inefficient.

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Plotting the door-to-door times and % of bounce backs on control charts we will be able to see exactly if our process of throughput is stable and efficient. Then, (if needed) armed with the data we can apply the SIMILAR strategy and address the problem and launch a new strategy.
The key piece to the SIMILAR tool in my humble opinion is the last letter, R. R stands for reevaluate, reevaluate, reevaluate and reevaluate.
Now that I have a better understanding of systems and how to assessing a system I am very excited to deploy these tools in my professional and personal life. Using this global approach and the tools will make decisions based upon facts and not just going with a gut feeling. And by having the data to support the decisions I would like to believe the team members will have better buy in with the knowledge.

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8 References

Latzko, W., & Saunders, D. (1995). Four Days with Dr. Deming, A Strategy for Modern
Methods of Management
Pink, D. (2009), Drive
Wheeler, D. (2000). Understanding Variation, The Key to Managing Chaos