Brief Essay on Systems Thinking
- Submitted by: corsair
- Views: 68
- Category: Other
- Date Submitted: 07/19/2016 03:41 AM
- Pages: 3
- Report this Essay
Brief Essay on Using Systems Thinking
A situation in my current workplace that I think can be addressed by using systems thinking is on the aspect of leadership as discussed by Reed (2006). He identified the problem of busyness and how it can be compounded by leaders who are overscheduled and uneducated in systems thinking. As with his observation of military officers working excessive hours as a matter of pride, I see the same happening in our workplace.
It is a normal observation in my workplace to see people working 10-12 hour shifts. In addition, I have seen many times how we have made rapid-fire decisions in our quest to act fast and appear decisive in certain situations. I have also witnessed numerous times how we have settled for fast short-term solutions for long-term problems just so we can move forward to the next issue without really looking at its overall impact.
Using Systems Thinking can change all these. Because today’s solutions can become tomorrow’s problems as stated in Reed (2006), there is a good possibility that actions done in the present that are not well thought of may affect future situations. Hence, it is important to remember to take a breather often and keep in mind that speed does not always equal efficiency; that it is important for us to realise that there is a need to pause at times, to reflect first before jumping into any action, and to evaluate carefully the effect of such an action on the whole before arriving at any decision. This point is true in any workplace and can be applied even in daily life.
Another situation I think can be addressed by using systems thinking is in the matter of involvement. One caveat in working in a government setting is that it is an established environment that is more or less static in nature and as a result, can be considered a more “traditional organization” complete with a top-down hierarchy where decision making is separated from work being that it is management’s...
A situation in my current workplace that I think can be addressed by using systems thinking is on the aspect of leadership as discussed by Reed (2006). He identified the problem of busyness and how it can be compounded by leaders who are overscheduled and uneducated in systems thinking. As with his observation of military officers working excessive hours as a matter of pride, I see the same happening in our workplace.
It is a normal observation in my workplace to see people working 10-12 hour shifts. In addition, I have seen many times how we have made rapid-fire decisions in our quest to act fast and appear decisive in certain situations. I have also witnessed numerous times how we have settled for fast short-term solutions for long-term problems just so we can move forward to the next issue without really looking at its overall impact.
Using Systems Thinking can change all these. Because today’s solutions can become tomorrow’s problems as stated in Reed (2006), there is a good possibility that actions done in the present that are not well thought of may affect future situations. Hence, it is important to remember to take a breather often and keep in mind that speed does not always equal efficiency; that it is important for us to realise that there is a need to pause at times, to reflect first before jumping into any action, and to evaluate carefully the effect of such an action on the whole before arriving at any decision. This point is true in any workplace and can be applied even in daily life.
Another situation I think can be addressed by using systems thinking is in the matter of involvement. One caveat in working in a government setting is that it is an established environment that is more or less static in nature and as a result, can be considered a more “traditional organization” complete with a top-down hierarchy where decision making is separated from work being that it is management’s...