Senge's 11 Laws of Systems

The pop-culture application of systems thinking and chaos theory is described as the Butterfly Effect -- how tiny variations can affect giant and complex systems, like weather patterns. The term "Butterfly Effect" suggests that wing movements of a butterfly might have significant repercussions on wind strength and conditions throughout the weather systems of the world, and theoretically, could cause tornadoes halfway around the world. The implication? The prediction of any large system's behavior is virtually impossible without accounting for a multitude of tiny factors -- surely too many to account for -- any one of which might have a minute but significant effect on the system.

Understanding systems, their interactions and changes allows leaders to establish and maintain a focus on process and to achieve organizational strategy.

Peter Senge is an influential systems thinker. Based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Senge is the author of many books and articles that address systems thinking and organizational learning as core values of a leadership system framework for change and transformation.

Senge's 11 Laws of Systems

In The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Senge suggests 11 laws of systems that support that essential understanding:

1. Today's problems come from yesterday's solutions. 

Leaders are happy to solve problems, but don't always think about intended and unintended consequences. Too often our solutions strike back to create new problems.
     

2. The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back. 

Humans have a stubborn tendency to bully our way through tough situations when things are not working out as we would hope. We charge ahead without taking time to think through solutions to find better alternatives. Sometimes we solve problems; more often, especially in the current environment, we find ourselves up to our ears in more problems.

3. Behavior grows better before it grows worse. 

Short-term solutions give temporary improvement at best but never eliminate fundamental issues and problems. These underlying problems will make the situation worse in the long run.

4. The easy way out leads back in. 

Leaders often have a few quick fixes in their "quiver" of solutions that have brought quick and easy success in the past. Too often, the easy way out is retrofitting these fixes to any situation without regard to the unique contexts, people and timing.

5. The cure can be worse than the disease. 

Often, the easy and familiar solution is not only ineffective but addictive and dangerous. It might even induce dependency.

6. Faster is slower. 

At the first taste of success, it is tempting to advance at full speed without caution. Remember that the optimal rate of growth or change is far slower than the fastest growth or change that is possible.

7. Cause and effect are not always closely related in time and space. 

We are good at finding causes, even if they are just symptoms unrelated to root causes.

8. Small changes can produce big results - But the areas of highest leverage are often the least obvious. 

The most grand and splashy solutions -- like changing company policy, vision, branding or tagline -- seldom work for transforming change. Small, ordinary but consistent and repetitive changes can make a huge difference.

9. You can have your cake and eat it too -- but not all at once. 

Rigid "either-or" choices are not uncommon. Remember that this is not a dilemma if we change our perspective or the "rules" of the system.

10. Dividing an elephant in half does not produce two small elephants. 

As a leader, you can fail to see the system as a whole at your peril.. This flaw in perception and vision often leads to suboptimal decisions, repeated tasks, lost time and energy, and maybe even losing followers.

11. There is no blame. 

People and organizations like to blame, point fingers and raise suspicions about events, situations, problems, errors and mistakes. Sometimes we even believe the blame we throw around. In reality, we and the cause of events, situations, problems, errors and mistakes are part of the system.

Understanding system thinking and principles is essential to transforming our care processes. In fact, it is the foundation of leading for change. W. Edwards Deming first pointed out the need to understand the system in post-World War II America. Deming stressed that learning must be emergent, designing out the system aspects that are wasteful, suboptimizing and unnecessarily redundant. To improve performance, the system has to change because the system drives 95 percent of any organization's performance. He also said that any improvement that does not involve human system change methods was doomed to failure in the short-, mid- and long-term; you cannot implement a new system in an old environment and anticipate success. The key to achieving the necessary human mindset change lies in curiosity: Ask questions, learn by doing, observe and think about what could be. Deming's messages fell on deaf ears in the U.S. post-war boom. Thinking did not change, and thinking must change for the system to change.

Key Systems Thinking Concepts

Explore systems thinking concepts through the mindmap of key systems thinking concepts, below.

The Inspiring Story of Honda !

Like most other countries, Japan was hit badly by the Great Depression of the 1930s. In 1938, Soichiro Honda was still in school, when he started a little workshop, developing the concept of the piston ring.

His plan was to sell the idea to Toyota. He labored night and day, even slept in the workshop. He was married by now, and pawned his wife's jewelry for working capital. Finally, came the day he completed his piston ring and he eagerly took a working sample to Toyota. But he was told that the rings did not meet their standards! Soichiro went back to school and suffered ridicule. 

Was this the end point for Honda?
No!

He refused to give up. Rather than focusing on his failure, he continued working
towards his goal. Then, after two more years of struggle and redesign, he won a
contract with Toyota. With the contract in hand, Soichiro Honda needed to build a factory to supply Toyota, but building materials were in short supply due to war. Still he would not quit! He invented a new concrete-making process that enabled him to build the factory. With the factory now built, he was ready for production, but the factory was bombed twice and steel became unavailable, too. 

Was this the end of the road for Honda?
No!

He started collecting surplus gasoline cans discarded by US fighters. He called them "Gifts from President Truman." It became the new raw material for his rebuilt manufacturing process. Finally, an earthquake destroyed the factory.

Did he felt defeated?
No!

After the war, an extreme gasoline shortage forced people to walk or use bicycles. A novel idea flashed in his mind. Honda attached a tiny lawn mower engine to his bicycle. He went on rides with his motorized bicycle. He found that other people were interested in his strange new idea. Sadly he didn't have money to produce and supply to the market need. 

Did he blame the situation?
No!

Rather than giving up, Honda dug deep and sought out a way to get the finance he needed to continue with his project. He wrote an inspiring letter to 18,000 bicycle shop owners which asked them to help him revitalize Japan through innovation. A huge number of the shop owners he wrote to responded by giving Honda what little money they could to help him.

Soichiro battled away with several redesigns before finally producing the "Super Cub‟ which became an overnight success. By 1963, Honda was the top-selling brand of motorcycles in the United States.

Honda Corporation now employs more than 100,000 people in the USA and Japan and it is now the leading brand in two wheelers and cars. Despite suffering more failures than most of us will see in a lifetime, Honda persisted and never once allowed himself to give up on his dreams.

“Success is 99 percent failure” is the famous quote of Soichiro Honda. It is not 
considered as a preaching, but it is revered as the essence of his life story. 

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?

When you ask, “How are you?”

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed,

with the next hundred chores running through your head?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short

The music won't last.

Ever told your child,

We'll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,

Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time

To call and say,'Hi'

You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last..

When you run so fast to get somewhere,

You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It is like an unopened gift....

Thrown away.

Life is not a race.

Do take it slower

Hear the music

Before the song is over.