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A Paradigm for Consistent Success in Sustainable Business Opportunity Green Saturday, November 8th Stephanie Ryan 360-929-0073

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Page 1: Stephanie Ryan

A Paradigm for Consistent Success in Sustainable Business

Opportunity GreenSaturday, November 8th

Stephanie Ryan 360-929-0073

Page 2: Stephanie Ryan

Systems Thinking

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Systems Thinking

A process for collective inquiry, which uncovers & helps people to see:

• Wholes rather than parts

• Interrelationships rather than things

• Interdependencies (circular causality) rather than linear cause & effect chains

• Processes of change (patterns) rather than snapshots

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Value of Systems Thinking

• Surface assumptions which drive our actions.

• Learn about the consequences of our actions both intended and unintended over time.

• Increase our capacity for holding apparent opposites.

• Discover critical interfaces & leverage

• Builds shared understanding of complex issues which is critical for commitment and collaboration.

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When to ApplySystems Thinking

Systems Thinking and Systems Sensing are useful when:

• Complex issues arise• Multiple points of view (typically different) need to be

understood• Collaboration across traditional boundaries is desired• Desire exists to understand critical factors that lead to

sustainable growth• Repeated attempts have been made to solve an issue and it

defies solution (chronic)

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Acme Co. – One View

A

Sales

Errors

Profitability

Time

Problems

• Billing errors• Late deliveries• Systems poorly used• Excessive sales time on new accounts

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Acme Co. – One View

A

Sales

Errors

Profitability

Time

Problems

• Billing errors

• Late deliveries

• Systems poorly

used

• Excessive sales

time on new accounts

Solutions

• Rewrite billing manuals & retrain

• Install automated delivery routing system

• Develop new/used interfaces and train

• Create new compensation packages

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Acme Co. – Systems Thinking View

APoor Service

(billing & deliveryproblems)

Lost Customers(& Sales)

Efforts on New Accounts(Time per sale)

Burden on Service

Pledges & Promises Special Pricing, Non-Stocked Products, Delivery Delays Outside Area

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EVENTS, PATTERN, AND STRUCTURE

Structure Is Harder to See

Events

Structure

The “Water Line”Trends and Patterns

Increased leverageand opportunity

for learningLike an iceberg,

the big, importantstructure is hidden.

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OrganizationalStructures

InterpersonalStructures

Individual Structures(Mental Models)

• Market Positioning• Customer Interface• Product Strategy• Distribution Strategy

• Management Structure/Hierarchy• Strategic Planning Process• Reward System• Information System• Cultural Norms• Written Rules

• Relational Skills• Roles and Role Flexibility• Ability to Recognize & Capitalize on Diversity• Problem Solving/Decision Making• Unwritten Rules

• How I Think• How I View Myself and My Role• My Beliefs and Assumptions

Business Structures

Levels of Structure

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What’s a B Corporation?

• A new type of corporation that uses the power of business to create public benefit

• B Corporations:– Meet high performance and legal standards– Build collective voice for ‘good companies’– 130+ B Corps; $1 Billion+ market; 30+ industries

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Story Line:

A reinforcing loop creates growth in the system which is hampered by one or more balancing loops. Typically, the more vigorous the growth, the more vigorous the compensating process. The net result may be little or no improvement or even worse performance. The limiting loop becomes dominant.

Everything going great, “Why should we worry about problems we don’t have?”, A little later, “Sure there are some problems, but all we have to do is go back to what was working before.” Still later, “The harder we run, the more seem to be staying in the same place!”

Scent:

Description:

Growth, steady or rapid followed by a plateau or decline. People are trying to regain performance in the system by doing more of what worked before with little gain.

Limits to Success

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Patterns of Behavior

Limits to Success

Time

Performance

Efforts

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Limits to Success

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Limits to SuccessPeople’s Express

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Limits to SuccessLow Hanging Fruit

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Limits to SuccessCollaborative Learning Cycle

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Limits to Success Limits to Learning

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Implications: • An LTS process grows and then growth slows. It can peak and crash/collapse.

• Nothing grows forever – who manages limits?• Anticipate limiting forces that may not yet be apparent.• Beware of doing more of what worked in the past; pushing harder

on the success loop will result in a harder fall.• Focus on reducing the limiting forces or constraints.

Areas of Leverage:

• Instead of putting more energy and resources in what worked before, look to remove constraints or limits of success (attention to Balancing Loop)

• Expand capacity before it's needed• Anticipate time delays of bringing additional capacity on line• Typical constraints you can expect to encounter and need to

anticipate: Physical/hard: design of building, equipment, information flows, resources & timeAbstract/soft: people's perceptions, ability to deal with resistance, diversity, people's capacity to manage

Limits to Success

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Quiver of Questions:

• What explains our success in the past, what was our engine of growth?

• What barriers have we encountered to our success?

• To what extent are these barriers self inflicted?

• How are these barriers born out of our success?

• How can we remove these barriers or lessen their effect?

• What constraints would have to be altered to support the systems growth?

Limits to Success

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Limits to Success Template

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1. Identify the growth engine

2. Determine doubling time of those processes

3. Identify potential limits and B loops (list)

4. Determine required change to deal with limits

5. Assess time needed to changeIs there a discrepancy between the doubling timeand changes that need to be make to support growth?

6. Balance the growth. What strategies can be used to balance the growth engine with the time frame of the investments that must be made to sustain it?

7. Re-evaluate the growth strategy

Using Limits to Success As a Planning Tool

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The Fifth Discipline Field Book, Page 150

Archetypes Tree

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Quotes

David Bohm said…

“For fragmentation is now very widespread,Not only throughout society, but also in each individual; and this is leading to a kind of general confusion of the mind, which creates an endless series of problems and interferes with our clarity of perception so seriously as to prevent us from being able to solve most of them…

The notion that all these fragments are separately existent is evidently an illusion, and this illusion cannot do other than lead to endless conflict and confusion.”

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Resources

Pegasus Communications: www.pegasuscom.comArchetypes Booklets, Books, CD’s..Newsletter & Conferences

B Lab- www.bcorporation.net

The Necessary Revolution: “How Individuals and Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World” by Joe Laur, Sara Schley, Peter Senge…

The Fifth Discipline & Fifth Discipline Field Book by Peter Senge