We’ve talked about processes and problem-solving in earlier blogs. Systems thinking is where you put everything together. We don’t reflect much about systems, just like we often don’t think about the processes we use every day. In its simplest form, systems are what you get when you combine processes. One way to understand systems is to look at what happens when we cook a meal.
Cooking a meal requires planning and ingredients and tools. Each food in the meal is the result of a process. Let’s say you want to prepare an Italian themed meal. Would you pull out a cookbook with Asian stir fry recipes? Of course not. What do you want in your meal? A salad, a bread, a main dish, and a dessert? Excellent choices! You choose a Caprese salad, focaccia bread, lasagna, and for dessert, tiramisu, of course. Because you expect the food to taste a certain way, you would not substitute ingredients or change the steps in the recipe. The same is true in your business.
How can you expect the same outcome if you always change how you create something or deliver a service? Now, different people can follow the same recipe and get different results. Sometimes that difference is due to quality of ingredients, type of cookstove, or the cook’s skill. You don’t want inconsistency in your business processes and systems. The key to daily excellence is documenting your processes and capturing the “secret ingredient” knowledge of your best performers. Then you have created a system where everyone can deliver the same “Awesome, got to have more,” experience prized by your customers.
Systems thinking extends beyond production or service, though. Understanding how a change in one area of your business affects something somewhere else in your business is the hallmark of a good business person. Decisions have a ripple effect and knowing your systems will help you avoid unwanted ripples or an unsatisfying meal.
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