Skip to content

Posts tagged ‘Systems Thinking’

Jun 29

When Nothing Can Be Done

“Nothing can be done about that, it’s a government regulation. This is the way we’ve always done it. If we change the way we do that, something will go seriously wrong. We don’t have the money, people, or time to improve. We’re just stuck with the way things are.”

All of these statements have some truth in them. Variations of these stories exist in every government agency and private industry group. The stories involve excuses and blame. Excuses are made for not tackling challenges or taking accountability for needed improvement. Blame is assessed to others and external circumstances, blame that allows the status quo to live another day. They can all be examples of “learned helplessness.”

Learned helplessness can infect organizations and individuals. It was first studied in dogs that were subjected to shocks, and, when allowed to escape the shock, the animals chose to be passive and accept the shock. They had learned not to act and failed to notice the change in the environment that would have allowed a different outcome. Further research has shown that like their best friends, humans and organizations can exhibit the same behavior.

Employees feel hopeless in the face of bureaucracy and rules. They stop being creative and follow the same mind-numbing routine. Managers stop asking for what is needed and helpful because too often the answer has been, “We can’t.” Leaders are tired of pushing for change and more resources. Even when something is possible, they feel still feel helpless and hopeless.

Martin Seligman, researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, says that learning helplessness happens when people in an organization no longer believe they can act to make a difference. The result for the organization is a downward performance spiral followed by decreased communication and respect for others. People spend all of their energy trying to protect themselves.

Changing learned helplessness in an organization’s culture does not happen quickly. As leaders and managers behind the desk, it’s up to us to stick our heads up, recognize the assumptions of learned helplessness, look at what we can control, and open up the escape routes.

Start by recognizing the language and behavior of helplessness: “we can’t; we’ve always done it that way; remember, they didn’t replace that position; we don’t have the money; it’s the new regulation.” Then take action to overturn the collective helplessness … one step at a time.

Every time you hear or see learned helplessness showing up, ask, “What do we have control over? What one small action could you take that would make a difference for you or our team?” Ask the person or team to create a S-M-A-R-T experiment with you:

  • S – Safe. If things don’t go well, your team should be able to continue functioning.
  • M – Modest. This is a simple, first step out of the danger zone of learned helplessness; it is not a destination where everything is “fixed.”
  • A – Actionable. The team should be able to act quickly, determine what works and what doesn’t, make adjustments, and try again … all within a week or two.
  • R – Research. It should be an experiment that gathers information for future decisions, not an experiment with the goal of improvement.
  • T – Test. The experiment should deliver information that is beneficial for overcoming learned helplessness and offering hopefulness rather than becoming a new strategy.

An example: Imagine a scenario where an organization attempts to use online employee scheduling, starting in the year 2005. The effort repeatedly fails. The organization’s employees learned over time that the online scheduling environment is a failure. Ten years later, when management is presented with a new proposal for online scheduling, they may still resist the idea because of what they learned ten years ago. This reaction to the new proposal is an example of learned helplessness. It does not take into account the changed online environment where everything from smart phones to tablets to computers could allow access to scheduling. The change in environment has the potential to deliver success. The next step is to create a S-M-A-R-T experiment on a micro-scale to see what might be possible.

In the end, the question is not, “did we meet our goal?” The questions are, “how did this experiment move us away from being stuck? How did it change our assumptions about what is possible and what isn’t?”

See the culture of learned helplessness. Look for possible escape routes. See which ones are open. Then use them.

Other Reading:
Seligman, M. (2013). “Learned Helplessness.” Oxford University Press.
Kegan, R., Lahey, L. (2012). “Immunity to Change.” Harvard Business Press.

For more on overcoming learned helplessness: Just tell me what to do!

Jun 2

1 Comment

Stories we tell – three

The more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known in this instant, and vice versa.
– Werner Heisenberg, The Uncertainty Relations, 1927

Stories we tell – two
Uncertainty as opportunity
The unexpected snowman

Jan 6

Potential energy

Many of my friends have been asking me if I’ve made a New Year’s resolution. And, as a logical, linear thinker, I’ve been pondering how best to respond! The turning of the calendar seems like a logical time to think about where we’ve been and where we want to go as individuals and organizations. Not only is it a “new year,” it is half-way between the season where we have the least and most amount of daylight.

Evaluating and taking stock can imply either that all was well or that things had gotten wildly off track. As is often the case, the reality lies somewhere in-between. In recent posts, I’ve listed some questions for reflection. As I watched the sunset last night, I considered another idea. What if each thing we do not only delivers value in the present, but creates potential for the future? How would we embrace and leverage the potential energy? How would we use that energy to generate momentum needed for adapting to change and creating new ideas?

In the physical world, gravity acts to increase potential energy. To further the analogy, what are the relationships and market forces that can multiple our potential?

The other kind of potential energy in the physical world is elastic potential energy. The further something is stretched, the greater the potential energy. Again, how will we stretch this year to increase our potential?

We as individuals and organizations are standing at the top of the proverbial 2011 hill. How will you use and build potential?

Dec 13

2 Comments

Sustaining change

Sustainability has become one of those buzzwords that I hear flying around my client and community circles. People want to create sustainability in everything from agriculture to business to endowment funds. I’ve heard others discussing the desire to “leave a legacy” for future generations. All of these are well-meaning intentions, but what is hidden beneath the buzzword?

Creating sustainability often means putting a system structure into place that is designed to produce the most benefit in the present while maintaining those benefits in the future. I do not deny that we need systems that function efficiently and effectively in the present, but is the ultimate goal to maintain them for the future?

Another word comes to mind: chronic. This word is usually used in association with a disease or other undesirable condition that has to be managed.  C.S. Holling said, “Placing a system in a straitjacket of constancy can cause fragility to evolve.” In other words, if we carefully  maintain a system, we run the risk of eventually creating weakness that leads to a chronic condition. Chronic conditions take much more time in management, and, after a period of time – perhaps a few years or even as long as a generation – can lead to the death of the system.

So should the idea of sustainability be abandoned? The answer isn’t to be found in keeping our organizations and ourselves in chaos. Instead, I invite you to consider expanding the goals of sustainability from only maintaining a static, stable operating environment to include building a resilient space.

Lest you think I’m piling buzzword on buzzword, I’m defining resilience as creating a bounded space where the system can function effectively and efficiently and have elastic in its boundary. That elastic allows the system to learn, change, and grow in new directions in response to changing conditions around it, while offering a measure of protection. It is both stable and ever changing. If we are going to “leave a legacy,” our organizations must embrace the paradox of sustaining change.

Jun 28

2 Comments

Waiting for feedback?

Over the last 2 or 3 months, I’ve written about the importance of leaders and managers giving feedback and the ongoing need to reinvent management as we know it.

So, it’s time to turn the tables and ask all employees to look in the mirror: Am I waiting for feedback? Why am I waiting for someone else to approve my work, to make a suggestion for improvement, or to give permission for a next step?

While no one wants to step over boundaries, the boundary line is more elastic than most of us think it is. And, I would argue that most bosses don’t want to spend all of their time supervising, let alone micromanaging. What many of them want is for people to be self-motivated and self-starting – to be self-employed at work:

Here are some of the unwritten attributes that define the self-employed at work phenomenon, which I’ve written about before from the boss’ perspective:

  • Be creative and inventive – see your work as owned by yourself, not by your employer or supervisor.
  • Be self-initiating and self-evaluating – identify problems and issues and evaluate what is working and what isn’t, suggest and initiate potential solutions. Don’t wait for others to do it for you.
  • Take responsibility – see yourself as an actor that participates in creating the internal and external work environment, you are as responsible for what happens in the organization as the next person, including your supervisor.
  • Be professional – master and author your work role and career. Don’t be an apprentice forever, continually imitate others, or only mimic the company line.
  • See the system as a whole – look beyond your own role and part to see the whole, your relationship to the whole, and how the parts work together.

In the end, each of us has to value and find meaning in what we do each day. So, let’s stop waiting for the person in the next cubicle, across the hall, or in the corner office to provide feedback, give approval, or check the “completed” box. It’s up to each of us to try out new ideas, move existing balls down the field, and be responsible for just getting it done. And, yes, we are capable of doing it – without waiting for feedback.

Oct 15

6 Comments

Just tell me what to do!

“I’m committed to this organization, but I don’t understand what they want anymore. I wish they would just tell me what to do!”

The manager overhearing this conversation on the other side of a cubicle shrugs with frustration and thinks, “I’ve told them. They just don’t get it!”

What is the mystery that underlies this exchange? Managers spend time communicating goals, listening to concerns, and seeking to move the organization toward a shared vision and mission. Employees try to meet expectations and be a part of the team. But there is an unspoken agenda in many workplaces that can undermine the best intentions of managers and employees.

Hours are committed to writing accurate job descriptions. Some employers even develop replicable hiring criteria. Research shows that employees are so stressed by annual performance reviews that productivity suffers for weeks before and after the review. Yet few consider what is the most wished for workplace attribute: that people take on personal responsibility for their work and the organization — that people act as if they are self-employed at work.

Here are some of the unwritten attributes that define the self-employed at work phenomenon:

  • Be creative and inventive – see your work as owned by yourself, not by your employer or supervisor.
  • Be self-initiating and self-evaluating – identify problems and issues and evaluate what is working and what isn’t, suggest and initiate potential solutions. Don’t wait for others to do it for you.
  • Take responsibility – see yourself as an actor that participates in creating the internal and external work environment, you are as responsible for what happens in the organization as the next person, including your supervisor.
  • Be professional – master and author your work role and career. Don’t be an apprentice forever, continually imitate others, or only mimic the company line.
  • See the system as a whole – look beyond your own role and part to see the whole, your relationship to the whole, and how the parts work together.

While most of us were hired for a specific position and may not actually be self-employed, I would invite consideration of the idea that employers biggest, unwritten wish is that people take ownership of their job, that they become self-employed at work. Robert Kegan and his team continue to do research on this issue as well as on the idea of immunity to change. I recommend his book, In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life, which looks at the question of what is really being demanded of us not only in the workplace, but in life.

Oct 2

1 Comment

Rushing ahead for more of the same

I’ve been thinking about change and transformation. It seems to me that most things that are “new” are often just the same things we’ve always had, perhaps with an incremental change here or there. A new computer has a slightly faster chip or a screen that’s an inch larger on the diagonal. Even the questions we asked are often worded in such a way as to create the context or framework for the answer.

The current buzz word flying through the air is innovation. For me the challenge with innovation is not to design a process that creates an opportunity for brainstorming or mind mapping that leads to the slightly different. And I will concede that any process or method has built-in biases for outcomes.  The challenge is to create an environment or an experience that pushes us to go beyond our assumptions and self-imposed boundaries.

Perhaps the key is to live the questions, to hold the opposing demands together: experimenting with reproducibility, spontaneity with stability, and surprising serendipity with effective efficiency. This is easier said than done. The beginning is to move to the level of systems thinking where we not only seek to understand and be understood, but to integrate the pieces into a whole.

Creating an environment that fosters space for innovation will require strategic planning and storytelling, mission statements and poetry, and schematic drawings and publicly visible art. My hope is to discover a road less traveled rather than rushing along the interstate of life, rushing ahead for more of the same.

%d bloggers like this: