Systems Thinking Permeates Innovation #cindertoflame

Building a healthy corporate culture for major innovation has multiple facets, including a broad range of thinking styles. The seminal work of Peter M. Senge, author of the Fifth Discipline, the Art and Practice of the Learning Organization in 1990 positioned systems thinking as the conduit for organizational transformation and innovation.

We live in a highly complex world, acting as both providers and recipients of products and services; innovation in design and delivery is relevant to everyone. For a given service (or product line), the connections to a system and their processes may appear to be obvious. An example from the healthcare sector is the relationship between community and acute health services, their coordination and multiple impacts upon each other. Another example is the utilization of public-private partnerships (PPPs) by municipal, provincial or federal government to render the most efficient and effective service and product design and delivery.

Major innovation entails looking beyond the obvious connections, to discover new opportunities and unusual connections between one or more systems and their processes (that have yet to be elucidated). Innovative solutions to corporate challenges require a disciplined approach to make sense of complexity and exploit the direct connection between "systems thinking" and "creative problem solving". Fritjof Capra and Pier Luigi Luisi capture the complexity of “thinking in terms of relationships, patterns and context” within their book: The Systems View of Life. A Unifying Vision.

Leadership studies across corporate and employment sectors have reported the tendency to utilize a linear approach to problem solving and decision making that draws upon a simplistic cause and effect formula. Such a reductionist approach draws upon convergent thinking that restricts information, narrows the view, limits the breath of possibilities and excludes potential system impacts. Most importantly, it casts aside real-life complexity and prevents major innovation to solve complicated challenges.

System mapping is a basic tool used to explore ideas, generate multiple scenarios and expand thinking and learning by identifying potential connections between systems and processes. Broad collaboration, networking and partnerships increase the accuracy of system mapping and ability to explore potential system impacts. For example, a change in corporate policy or action can be studied to determine the impact throughout a system or across systems, utilizing system tools such as feedback loops. The goal is to understand how systems and their processes interact and how they respond to a given change.

According to Pask’s Conversation theory, the most effective thinkers employ versatile thinking and can simultaneously hold a “big picture” perspective while drawing upon the essential details. This is relevant to systems thinking because it also hinges upon the ability to grasp the “big picture” perspective of a system and the interconnectedness of its parts and processes. (My masters thesis delved into educational psychology and Pask’s Conversation theory.)

Innovation can be described as the combination of synthesis and emergence. The former relates to combining two or more parts (or processes) together to create something new; while the latter focuses on the natural coming together of smaller parts (or processes) to revamp something larger, the system.

Lia Patricio and Raymond Fisk emphasize the importance of a “system of systems” view to fully capture the constellation of services, products or materials to render an innovation. For example, purchasing a preowned home frequently involves interaction between realtors, lawyers and financial institutions. Each provider renders service based upon their position within a system, their unique angle of expertise and specific contribution.

The power of systems thinking, and its set of tools has been briefly introduced. Explore how systems thinking permeates innovation by mapping a specific service (or product line). Define its position within the context of a system, along with its connections and processes. Then exercise creative thinking to change, streamline or augment the components - to evolve your system view - into a potential opportunity for major innovation.

Cinder to Flame helps Corporations solve complex challenges with strategic services that energize people, fuel a healthy corporate culture and ignite major innovation.

Cinder to Flame's keynote presentations, strategic coaching and inventive tools strengthen systems thinking and expand the range of creative thinking styles applied by individuals, teams and leaders within the context of their work environment.

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