Week 8 Student Discussion - Systems Thinking

[Steve Prevette]

Please read the following paper: http://in2in.org/resources/2005/febr...s_thinking.pdf

How do you think we're doing with the course? Are you "thinking systematically"? I will definitely include some feature of this in the final exam - seeing how well you are seeing the links and interrelations between some of the topics we have covered.

[Roberta]

I think Steve does a good job in focusing us to actually think systemically. Although this course seems to revisit material we covered in previous courses, what it is doing is bringing those multiple systems and functions into one course to demonstrate their interrelatedness. The systems have already been taught to us; now we learn the functionality of each system as dependent upon the other systems, and the detriment that can occur if we as managers are not cognizant of these relationships.
City U seems to be taking this modern approach pretty well in its MBA curriculum -- an attribute I didn't much value before but now well into my program I am understanding the necessity of learning systemic thinking. It is shining a light on the relations of the operations/departments in my company, and I able to recognize where a systemic approach is being applied and where it is lacking.

[Mary Davenport]

Originally Posted by Roberta

I think Steve does a good job in focusing us to actually think systemically. Although this course seems to revisit material we covered in previous courses, what it is doing is bringing those multiple systems and functions into one course to demonstrate their interrelatedness.

I also feel Steve has done a good job of helping us think more of the systems than the parts. As we have discussed many times in class, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I agree, as Roberta mentions, this course has revisited things we have learned in other classes. It takes several classes (quanitative methods, marketing, project management, and a little light statistics and accounting, among others), and brings them all together into one useful package.

[Jamie Morris]

Originally Posted by Mary Davenport

I also feel Steve has done a good job of helping us think more of the systems than the parts. As we have discussed many times in class, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I agree, as Roberta mentions, this course has revisited things we have learned in other classes. It takes several classes (quanitative methods, marketing, project management, and a little light statistics and accounting, among others), and brings them all together into one useful package.

I have to agree that Steve has definitely improved my ability to think about processes, inputs, outputs, design, layouts, and even HR functions as components of the larger system. I am a Scholtes’s disciple. Scholtes is a Dr. Deming disciple. His writings stress the importance of leaders being able to view functions, processes, and organizations from a system prospective. In fact, Scholtes believes that this prospective is a required competency for leaders. Additionally, he stresses that leaders must be able to interpret and understand variability in the system. He discusses the importance of knowing the difference between common cause variation and special cause variation within a system. Steve has helped me better understand the difference between common cause variation and special cause variation. This increased understanding will allow me to be better equipped to think from the system prospective when trying to achieve continual improvement. Thanks, Steve!

[mark child]

Surprise, I agree as well. Steve is bringing all prior classes together into one comprehensive whole and we are having fun in the process. Beer games, tinkertoy exercises, red pen/blue pen, and red bead experiments have given me an extra perception into the organization I currently work for as well as previous ones.
Using submarine and toy train examples are a nice touch.

Thinking of the bigger picture and how the system works as a whole makes me think of how it is at where I work. I see how there are jobs, performance incentives, and projects that do not make sense to do when we look at the larger picture. Often we get stovepiped into just doing what we are told to do even if it is not the best work to be done. It does not matter how effecient you are at the job if you are doing the wrong job. This class has taught me to look at the larger picture and the interaction of the pieces.

[jlowens]

I also agree that Steve has helped us in understanding how systems work. Steve's class has helped me especially because this is such a field than I am accustomed to working in. Steve has brought the other courses that I have taken together for me.I get the red bead experiement now. It took two terms with Steve but I got it now!