Systems Thinking and Open Systems in Organizations
Systems thinking is important for Organizational Change (OC)
practitioners (and managers) because rarely is there an "evil"
person in the organization bent on bringing pain and
destruction. Bad behavior, or ineffective behavior, is often
unwittingly rewarded by management. Protecting turf, not
communicating with peers, not contributing to the team, high
absenteeism, and resisting change happen for a reason.
In many organizations (especially in American organizations),
the management team goes "headhunting" immediately after an
error occurs or a problem arises. "Heads will roll!" they
declare. The assumption is that there is a bad person causing
the problem; if they get rid of the person, they get rid of the
problem.
More often than not, the person is not "the problem." The
problem is typically embedded in the system. If we don't change
the system, we will soon face the same problem again.
Lessons from Other Professionals
Systems theory was not originally developed by OC practitioners.
Systems theory has roots in the early theories of physical
scientists. They correctly understood that physical phenomena
don't operate in a closed vacuum; physical phenomena
continuously interact with other phenomena in any given system.
Fortunately, the wisdom of systems theory did not start and end
with the physical scientists. Social scientists, including
sociologists and psychologists, have also adopted a systems
approach.
Systems thinking has been a highly effective tool of counselors
with at-risk youths. "At-risk youths" is a nice way of talking
about the types of teenagers who frighten us (at risk for drug
use, teenage pregnancy, or a life of crime). Many frustrated
counselors were devoting many hours to these youths. Typically,
after these youths faced up to their problems, and committed to
changing their behavior, they were sent home. But with alarming
predictability, these at-risk youths reverted to their old
behaviors. Why? Were they insincere about change?
Counselors eventually realized that sending these youths back to
the same abusive fathers, alcoholic mothers, and drug-abusing
friends was inviting failure. The youths needed support for
their new behavior; that meant changing the system. Counselors
began counseling the entire family. Changing the system (the
family) has been much more effective.
Organizational change consultants and managers must take the
same systemic approach. Peter Senge is often quoted for his work
on organizational learning. Personally, I believe Senge's larger
contribution is in the application of systems thinking to
business organizations. Systemic change involves a lot of work,
but the change is powerful and lasting.
Open Systems
Open systems theory takes systems thinking one step further.
Systems Theory changes our diagnostic focus from the individual
to the system. Open Systems Theory helps us recognize the fact
that the system itself is embedded in another, larger system.
This larger system, its environment, exerts substantial
influence on the organization.
As OC practitioners we may see system-wide problems that exist
within the walls of the organization, but we must remain aware
of the environment in which the organization operates. A
business organization's environment includes its customers,
suppliers, competitors, government regulators, and so on.