The Systems View
Taking the systems view means maintaining an awareness that everything is connected. A problem never exists in isolation. It exists in a context or system. To fix a problem, you need to understand everything in the system that's contributing to it. To ignore these connections is almost guaranteed to lead to frustration as the problem is sure to arise again. Following are some fundamental principles that apply to all systems (cultures).
Systems Principles
| 1. |
Every organization is a complex system composed of many interrelated parts. |
| 2. |
The performance of the whole system is affected by the performance of each part of the system. |
| 3. |
The way each part affects the whole system is influenced by at least one other part of the system. |
| 4. |
Parts of the whole system can be grouped into functional subsystems. Each subsystem has an effect on the performance of the whole system. |
| 5. |
The performance of the whole system depends on how well the parts/subsystems fit and work together—not merely on how well each performs when considered independently. |
| 6. |
The performance of a synergistic system is better than the performance of any particular part or subsystem and better than the performance of the sum of its parts. |
Effective leaders consistently take this systems view and make it a high personal priority to teach others to do the same. It's an absolute requirement, along with a spirit of cooperation, to achieve synergistic results.
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