Question from a colleague:”If thermodynamics is the science of getting useful work out of engines, then surely organodynamics is the science of getting useful work out of organisations. Thermodynamics is based on three laws (or according to some purists, four): what three (or four!) laws of organodynamics would you
suggest?”
Answer: The objective function in managing any system must be solving problems and learning. There are four principles of a ‘basic science’ of system design, operation, and management, which if followed, generate, sustain, and accelerate high velocity learning, improvement, and innovation. If they are not followed, learning, improvement, and innovation are compromised.
(This basic science has a sound theoretical underpinning as it is rooted in the science of closed loop control and experiential and experimental learning.)
Learning, improvement, and innovation are core objective functions because the complexity of the ’socio-technical’ systems (e.g., groups of people, doing interdependent work, to create value for others) upon which we depend for delivering value to customers.
The complexity resides in the product itself (e.g., cars with multiple materials depending on well integrated mechanics and electronics), in the service (e.g., cancer treatment requiring the customization and integration of multiple diagnostics, pharmacology, oncology radiation, and surgery), or in the production methods.
The problem with complex systems, those with many parts connected and interacting in non linear ways, is that their structure and dynamics are difficult/impossible to model and predict accurately. Therefore, no few people can design them perfectly in isolation. Large numbers of people must pursue perfection by iterative discovery.
There are four basic principles for achieving high speed iteration, in tightly compressed cycles.
1: Seeing problems: Systems must be designed:
— with a high degree of specificity in terms of output, pathway
(e.g., flow, architecture), connections (e.g., interfaces), and component-activity
methods to capture best known approaches and
— with tests built in to show problems (e.g., that the best known approach has failed).
2: Solving problems: When problems are seen, they must be:
— contained to prevent their spread
— investigated and solved quickly and rigorously (e.g., scientific method) to convert
the ignorance that was the core source of their occurrence into useful knowledge.
3: Sharing learnings: When problems are solved, new knowledge must be:
— incorporated into new approaches for doing work and
— applied systemically so the impact of the new knowledge is multiplied
4: Leadership: For learning, improvement, and innovation to occur relentlessly, leaders must:
— actively see, solve, and share for system problems
for which they alone have span of perspective, and
— relentlessly cultivate skills 1 - 3 in those whom they support.
Teach, learn, practice, and apply these four and high performance can be achieved. Don’t and it won’t.
Steve Spear
http://ChasingTheRabbitBook.Com