Systems Thinking – Page 53 – Discipline makes Daring possible.

October 17, 2019

All models are wrong

Walmart is a planned economy the size of Sweden. It isn’t a republic or a democracy. It’s a complex, strictly controlled, bureaucratic hierarchy, with the Walton family at the top.

That isn’t what most small business owners want, so for them, hierarchy isn’t such a useful model.

One alternative is to think of a business as a system – “a group of interacting or interrelated entities that form a unified whole.”

And since “the system is what the system does”, it also helps to define what a business system is meant to do.

For most business owners I know, that is to make and keep a promise to customers, employees and community, and in the process make enough money to keep doing it well.

This model of a business is wrong. But it might be more useful for you.

October 15, 2019

Missing You

For over 30 years I did almost all my shopping at my local big-name supermarket.

Recently, I stopped. The trigger was the self-checkouts – they finally brought it home to me that in spite of all the personal ‘offers’, I am not a person for them, I am merely a consumer. A number on a loyalty card.

Do they miss me? I doubt it.

Now I buy from street markets, WI markets, farm shops and sail cargo. I shop around. Not for the lowest price, but for the best price/experience combination.

I want to do business with people that will miss me when I’m gone.

Don’t we all?

October 14, 2019

Security vs Sovereignty

A supermarket gives me courgette security. I can buy courgettes all year round, any day of the week. They’ll always be the same size, ripeness and quality. This comes at a cost of course. Supermarket courgettes are always priced at the out-of-season level, even when there is a glut in my allotment.

My allotment gives me courgette sovereignty. I can grow as few or as many as I like. I can grow whatever varieties I choose, provided I can give them the conditions they need. This comes at a cost of course. I have to spend time preparing the soil, weeding and watering to give them the conditions they need.

Which option you choose depends on how much you value their side-effects.

The supermarket option is convenient, freeing up time to do other things. On the other hand, those all-year-round courgettes are grown under plastic which ends up in the soil; in an arid part of Spain, which depletes the local water supply; and are picked by migrants, who live in virtual slavery.

The allotment option involves exercise, fresh air, and the satisfaction of doing it yourself. On the other hand, I have to pay rent, keep it looking neat, and after all my hard work, I may not get any courgettes.

But when I do, I’ll really enjoy them.

October 8, 2019

Juggling

Jugglers make life difficult for themselves on purpose. For our entertainment. So we can marvel at their coordination and dexterity.

Business owners juggle because they haven’t realised yet that the balls can be self-powered and self-organising.

Or that enabling this is an even more impressive act.

October 7, 2019

Ups and Downs

Quiet weeks, when nothing much happens, drag by while we’re in them. Afterwards, they almost disappear from our memories. We tend to remember the last interesting event before that quiet week as if it was only yesterday.

This is understandable. We are constantly bombarded with information, and most of the time what this information is telling us is boring – its OK, everything is normal, no need to worry. The unusual or extreme is what we need to take note of. Up or down, good or bad, high or low.

So while of course we should constantly measure what matters to our business, it makes no sense to report it if everything is normal. Let’s save our energy for dealing with the highs and lows.

October 3, 2019

Consistency

Good Services principle number 9: A good service is consistent. I like this principle particularly, because consistent doesn’t mean uniform. Your services

October 2, 2019

Resonance

There is a whole family of stringed musical instruments that capitalise on resonance.

These instruments have additional ‘sympathetic’ strings, that are never touched, but are tuned to resonate in harmony with the normal strings. So when the instrument is played, a richer, more complex harmony of sound is made – almost as if the player has been given an extra hand.

Your Promise of Value is how your business is tuned. Everything you do, for customers; staff; suppliers, shareholders and the community around you needs to resonate with it.

That way, they become ‘sympathetic strings’ for your Promise, extending your reach and helping to make it truly believable.

September 25, 2019

Design is for people

“You cannot understand good design if you do not understand people; design is made for people.” Dieter Rams ‘Design by Vitsoe’, 1976

The hard part is making sure we understand the people we’re designing for.

We can at least try.

September 24, 2019

Hoarding

Money. A means of exchange, and a store of value.

As one, it oils the wheels of commerce, industry and everyday life. Enabling us not just to transfer value between each other, but to generate new value for each other.

As the other, it locks up not just its current value, but also all the potential value it is able to create.

Too much oil in the system can be wasteful, but not enough is catastrophic.

Hoarding is counter-productive. Money needs to move to be really useful, and the more parts it can reach, the more useful it will be.

September 20, 2019

Tinkering

We humans are good at compartmentalising.

We happily shop with a backpack or canvas bag ‘to save plastic’, then collect Disney hero cards or M&S shop miniatures with our groceries.

We install dual flush toilets ‘to save water’, then take 3 showers a day.

We cycle to work ‘to avoid polluting’, then fly abroad for a holiday 4 or 5 times a year.

Compartmentalising allows us to tinker, to make ourselves feel good, when what’s really needed is a paradigm shift.

Good luck to everyone on the Global Climate Strike today.

Discipline makes Daring possible.

Musings from The Disappearing Boss on People, Process and Responsible Autonomy for small-business employers.

Category: Systems Thinking