Whole system in the room

…you are to make an important and complex decision that affects many people across the organization.

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You want to understand everyone’s stakes in order to make faster decisions and evoke greater personal responsibility.

Forces:

• Growing aspirations for both systemic—rather than single-problem—solutions and for greater inclusion of people in using what they know.
• No task is too complex if the right people can be brought in on it.
• The nature of the whole cannot be understood fully by anyone unless all participate.
• People cannot be expected to act responsibly without understanding the impact of what they do.
• Having a “whole system” in the room opens doors no one has walked through before.

Make sure the right and diverse mix of people who “ARE IN” the room:

• Authority to act, like decision-making responsibility.
• Resources, such as contacts, time or money.
• Expertise in the issues to be considered.
• Information about the topic no one else has.
• Need to be involved because they are affected by the outcome and can speak to the consequences.

Make “systems thinking” experiential rather than conceptual.

Therefore:

Include all the relevant people who “ARE IN” in each meeting.

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When you can’t get the whole system in the room, the 3 × 3 rule might be feasible. nemawashi can be another approach and lead or follow don’t just do something, stand there!.

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