chapter 6: natures templates senge: chapter 6 the fifth discipline
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter 6: Natures Templates
Senge: Chapter 6THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Nature’s Templates: the Archetypes• Structures of which we are
unaware hold us prisoner• The swimmer scenario
• Certain patterns of structure occur again and again: called ARCHETYPES
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
We are creating a “language”
• reinforcing feedback and balancing feedback are like the nouns and verbs
• systems archetypes are the basic sentences• Behavior patterns appear again in all
disciplines--biology, psychology, family therapy, economics, political science, ecology and management
• Can result in the unification of knowledge across all fields
Prepared by James R. Burns1 June 2002
Recurring behavior patterns• Do we know how to recognize
them?• Do we know how to describe them?• Do we know how to prescribe cures
for them?• The ARCHETYPES describe these
recurring behavior patterns
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
The ARCHETYPES • Provide leverage points, intervention
junctures at which substantial change can be brought about
• Put the systems perspective into practice• About a dozen systems ARCHETYPES
have been identified• All ARCHETYPES are made up of the
systems building blocks: reinforcing processes, balancing processes, delays
Prepared by James R. Burns1 June 2002
Before attacking the ARCHETYPES we need to understand simple structures
• The reinforcing feedback loop• The balancing feedback loop
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
ARCHETYPE 1: LIMITS TO GROWTH• A reinforcing process is set in motion
to produce a desired result. It creates a spiral of success but also creates inadvertent secondary effects (manifested in a balancing process) that eventually slow down the success.
• All growth will eventually run up against constraints, impediments
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Management Principle relative to ARCHETYPE 1• Don’t push growth or success;
remove the factors limiting growth
Prepared by James R. Burns1 June 2002
ARCHETYPE 1: LIMITS TO GROWTH• Useful in all situations where
growth bumps up against limits• Firms grow for a while, then plateau• Individuals get better for a while,
then their personal growth slows.• Falling in love is kind of like this
• The love begins to plateau as the couple get to know each other better
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Structure
state of stockgrowing action slowing action
BalancingReinforcing
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Understanding the Structure• High-tech orgs grow rapidly
because of their ability to introduce new products
• This growth plateaus as lead times become too long
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
How to achieve Leverage
• Most managers react to the slowing growth by pushing harder on the reinforcing loop
• Unfortunately, the more vigorously you push the familiar levels, the more strongly the balancing process resists, and the more futile your efforts become.
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns 13
Leverage, Continued
• Instead, concentrate on the balancing loop--changing the limiting factor
• This is akin to Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints--remove the bottleneck, the impediment
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Applications to Quality Circles and JIT• Quality circles work best when there is
even-handed emphasis on both balancing and reinforcing loops
• JIT has had to focus on recalcitrant suppliers
• THERE WILL ALWAYS BE MORE LIMITING PROCESSES
• When once source of limitation is removed, another will surface
• Growth eventually WILL STOP
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Create your own LIMITS TO GROWTH story• Identify a limits to growth pattern
in your own experience• Diagram it
– What is growing– What might be limitations– Example--the COBA and University
capital campaigns– NOW, LOOK FOR LEVERAGE
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Test your LIMITS TO GROWTH model• Talk to others about your
perception• Test your ideas about leverage in
small real-life experiments• Run and re-run the simulation
model• Approach possible resistance and
seek WIN-WIN strategies with them
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
ARCHETYPE 2: shifting the burden
• An underlying problem generates symptoms that demand attention. But the underlying problem is difficult for people to address, either because it is obscure or costly to confront. So people “shift the burden” of their problem to other solutions--well-intentioned, easy fixes that seem extremely efficient.
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns 18
Shifting the burden scenario, continued• Unfortunately, the easier solutions
only ameliorate the symptoms; they leave the underlying problem unaltered. The underlying problem grows worse and the system loses whatever abilities it had to solve the underlying problem.
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
The Stereotype Structure
Problem
Symptomatic Solution
Fundamental Solution
Side effect
BALANCING
BALANCING
REINFORCING
Symptiom-CorrectingProcess
Problem-Correcting Process
Addictioin Loop
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Special Case: Eroding Goals• Full employment meant 4%
unemployment in the 1960s, but 6 to 7% unemployment in the early 1980’s
• Gramm-Rudman bill called for reaching a balanced budget by 1991, but this was shifted to 1993 and from 1993 to 1996 and from 1996 to 1998
• “If all else fails, lower your goals..”
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
EXAMPLE
Alcohol
Stress/Depression
Reduce workload
Health
BALANCING
BALANCING
Alcohol
Stress/Depression
Reduce workload
Health
BALANCING
BALANCING
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Another Example
Costs of Higher Ed not funded by State or Students
Raise tuition, add course fees, etc.
Enrollments
Perceived cost to the student
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Still Another ExampleHeroics and Overtime
Project Delayed
Efectiveness of PM practices
Reward for heroic behavior
Improvement of processes/practices
Symptom-correctingprocess
Problem-correctingProcess
Addiction Loop
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Still other Problems
• What about retention of students• The perceived fix is raise the
admission standards• What about drug-related crime• The perceived fix is to remove the
drugs from the street
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
“Shifting the Burden” is an insidious problem• Is has a subtle reinforcing cycle• This increases dependence on the
symptomatic solution• But eventually, the system loses
the ability to apply the fundamental solution
• The system collapses
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Senge Says
• Today’s problems are yesterday’s solutions
• We tend to look for solutions where they are easiest to find
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
HOW TO ACHIEVE LEVERAGE• Must strengthen the fundamental
response– Requires a long-term orientation and
a shared vision
• Must weaken the symptomatic response– Requires a willingness to tell the truth
about these “solutions”
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Create your own “Shifting the Burden” Story
• Is there a problem that is getting gradually worse over the long term?
• Is the health of the system gradually worsening?
• Is there a growing feeling of helplessness?• Have short-term fixes been applied?
• The local Mexican restaurant problem of using coupons to generate business and then can’t get away from using the coupons because their customer base is hooked on coupons
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
To structure your problem
• Identify the problem• Next, identify a fundamental
solution• Then, identify one or several
symptomatic solutions• Finally, identify the possible
negative “side effects” of the symptomatic solution
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Review
• We have now seen two of the basic systems archetypes. – The Limits to Growth Archetype– The Shifting the Burden Archetype
• As the archetypes are mastered, they become combined into more elaborate systemic descriptions.
• The “sentences” become parts of paragraphs• The simple stories become integrated into
more involved stories
1 June 2002 Prepared by James R. Burns
Seeing Structures, not just Trees• Helps us focus on what is
important and what is not• Helps us determine what variables
to focus on and which to play less attention to
32Prepared by James R. Burns1 June 2002
Copyright C 2002 by James R. Burns• All rights reserved world-wide.
CLEAR Project Steering Committee members have a right to use these slides in their presentations. However, they do not have the right to remove this copyright or to remove the “prepared by….” footnote that appears at the bottom of each slide.
Prepared by James R. Burns