The Aim of a System
Author: Klaus Mager Issue: 2023-04-19
The Aim of a System
by Klaus Mager
During my time at Disney I had the opportunity to go to a 4-day Deming workshop, and one of the things that impressed me was his discussion on the aim, or intention of the system:
Many systems evolve without their “designers” consciously thinking about an aim, but you can often reverse-engineer the aim of a system by studying its makeup and the outcomes it’s producing. In nature we see many examples of systems, and the aim there seems to be sustainability. Nature tends to balance itself so that only the necessary parts in the system remain, and unnecessary parts die out. One part of a system can become selfish, no longer concerned with the aim of the overall system. When a part of a system becomes selfish, it weakens the overall system, which ultimately harms all of the parts. When a part of a system makes a sacrifice that helps the overall system, all of the parts of the system are rewarded because the whole system thrives.A few years back Gene Bellinger organized a workshop with a team of systems designers and me as a subject matter expert that lasted the better part of a year on what constitutes a ‘Community Food System’. In the end we determined that this system does exactly what it was designed to do from a mechanical or engineering perspective which determined the relationships needed to move food from farm to table. The questions we had started with, seeking answers for changing some of the outcomes related to environmental and human health issues could not be answered by changing the structure of the system.
We determined at that point that what mattered was the System's ‘Value System’.
It created this insight:
Under the system’s current configuration, the system’s paradigm sets the direction of economic and political transactional relationships downstream. This paradigm influences the value system throughout the economy and the entire Rural Community Food System. This establishes or implements the patterns, systemic structures and mental models for the system which sustains the system and defines the system’s purpose and resultant values.
Within the **Changing Mental Models **map, the System’s Value System is leveraged through Public Awareness in determining how the system meets Societal Needs. **System’s Values **must be based on ecological health, regenerative organic principles, social justice issues.
Using Theory U, Spiral Dynamics, Donella Meadows, we ended with this recommendation:
**New Directions? **Recommendation to create one level upstream, linking the current box ‘System’s Value System’ to a box titled ‘Macro System’. Which would then connect the process of various influencers merging into aligned structures. The system is fine, it does what it needs to do in the way it is directed. What needs to change are the **intentions **of the systems to shift into regenerative and socially just outcomes.
Related:
- Klaus Mager (author)
- 2023 (year)
- Topics: Events and Gatherings, Social Change, Systems Thinking, Metamodern and Integral Approaches