In This Issue

Feature

Seeing Your Company as a System
by Andrea Gabor

Bank failures, health insurance rate hikes, and the troubles of auto manufacturers provide recent examples of the vulnerability of big, fast-changing systems and the ways in which large organizations can careen out of control. No matter how disparate the causes of failure, there is always a common thread: somewhere, somehow, management has let its attention slip. As executives and politicians struggle with regulation and reform, now is an opportune time to reflect on the leading ideas that have shaped what we know about the management of social
systems, particularly corporations, and how to stabilize and improve them.

The recognition that a company is a complex social system and a living community has been an underlying theme of leading management thinkers as far back as the early 20th century. Nevertheless, the machine continues to be the dominant metaphor for business leaders, many of whom seek to solve their problems by “pulling levers” or “pushing buttons”: making large-scale changes without a clear feeling for how those changes will affect the collective action of the company. The speed and complexity of the global business environment calls for a new appreciation of a systems-focused view of the world, one that recognizes the interrelationships of people, processes, and decisions—and designs organizational actions accordingly. performance.

Pegasus Classics
Balancing Loops with Delays: Teeter-Tottering on Seesaws
by Daniel H. Kim and Colleen P. Lannon

Most of us have played on a seesaw at one time or another and can recall the up and down motion as the momentum shifted from one end to the other. At a basic level, a free market economy is a lot like a seesaw, with supply at one end and demand on the other. The goal of a seesaw ride is to always keep things in a state of imbalance (it would be pretty boring to sit on a perfectly balanced one). But the goal of the marketplace is exactly the opposite: to bring supply in balance with demand. This process is complicated by the presence of significant delays in the system.

Viewpoint
Why Do Bosses Behave as Dictators? A Systems Perspective
by Chetan Dhruve

If you’ve worked for any length of time, you’ve almost certainly had a bad boss. A bad boss can blight our existence in a way that no one else can. Although bad bosses are a common phenomenon the world over, we still react the same way when we have one. We say, “My boss is bad.” The implication is that it’s the fault of the individual boss. But since bad bosses are everywhere and have been around practically forever, it’s time to address
the issue in a radically different manner. We need to ask: “Rather than bosses being individually bad, is there something about the system that automatically produces bad bosses?”

Systems Stories
Active Convergence: Breaking Down Silos at University of Central Oklahoma
by Ed Cunliff and John Barthell

Four years ago, five upper- and mid-level managers from different functional areas at the University of Central Oklahoma came together to discuss an assessment of the student learning process that would ultimately enhance focus and break down silos among disciplines and functions. The result was a “transformative learning model” that centers on helping students learn by integrating six major themes: discipline knowledge; leadership; service learning and civic engagement; global and cultural competencies; health and wellness; and research, creative, and scholarly activities. To reach this innovative outcome, participants in the process engaged in open communication, listened to each other, and set aside egos and personal ownership of organizational turf for the greater good of helping students learn.

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