Systems Map
How to Manage the Organization as a System
Present Practice:
Failure to manage the organization as a system. Instead, the components are individual profit centres. Everybody loses.
Individuals, teams, divisions in the company work as individual profit centres, not for the optimization of the aim of the whole organization. The various components thus actually rob themselves of long-term profit, joy in work, and other desirable measures of quality of life.
The circumstance is in my experience accompanied by failure of communication. People have lost hope of ever understanding the relationship of their work to the work of others, yet they do not talk with each other.
Better Practice:
Manage the company as a system (Chs. 3 and 4)
Enlarge judiciously the boundaries of the system.
The system must include the future.
Encourage communication.
Make physical arrangements for informal dialogue between people in various components of the company, regardless of level of position. Encourage continual learning and advancement. Some companies have formed groups for comradeship in athletics, music, history, a language, etc., and have provided facilities for study-groups. The company can well afford to underwrite the cost of social gatherings in outside locations…
The first step in any organization is to draw a flow diagram to show how each component depends on others. Then everyone may understand what his job is. If people do not see the process, they cannot improve it. Anyone needs to see the process as a catwalk, a flow diagram. Paul Batalden, M.D., 13 November 1990.
Deming, W.E. The New Economics, 3rd Ed. MIT Press. (pp. 21-22)
Joy in work. Suppose we post names on Fig 6: you work here, John works there; I work here. Then everybody may see straightaway what his job is — whom do I depend on, who depends on me. Anyone may now understand how his work fits in with the work of other people. He may now engage his mind as well as his labour. He understands now what is meant by doing a good job. He may now take joy in his work.
Ibid. (p. 42)
TODAY’S POST is inspired by a recent video that I found via the Aileron Center’s YouTube channel that details how they use a system map to visualize their hiring process. My aim here is to share it with you and why I think it useful, along with some armchair quarterbacking on what I’d add to make it better.
Take a moment to view Aileron’s Kristin Rhoads explaining their hiring system:
A Useful Guide to the System
Here’s what stood out to me:
Old hands will immediately see glimpses of Deming’s Organization Viewed as a System diagram in what Kristin presents, and I really like that: She hasn’t made a slavish copy, but re-interpreted the core elements to fit her needs.
The AIM is clearly stated at the top, along with who the system owner is and the last time the map was updated.
The map is bracketed with a Start State and End State to clearly define the system boundaries.
Inputs are broken down into Chosen vs. Imposed - I really like this distinction as it reinforces those inputs under their control and those outside that affect their operation.
Similarly, Outputs are broken down into Desired vs. Undesired which reflect the reality of all systems and remind the System Owner of the unknown and unknowable phenomena and quantities they need to manage for the system’s success.
Linking the End State into Qualitative Feedback from the candidate and during interview committee debriefs. This corresponds with the Customer Feedback and Design stages in Deming’s original diagram.
I really like the way Kristin has broken out the Conversion Steps in the middle of the map, articulating the flow through stages along with attendant tasks vertically under each. In my line of work, this is a visual planning aid we call a Story Map, which helps software teams plan out how an envisioned system will work and the associated tasks to implement it.
Breaking out the system metrics into Qualitative and Quantitative categories help to answer the critical questions “What do we want to accomplish?” and “How will we know we’ve improved?”
What Would Make It Better?
As it stands, this map is excellent as it captures much of the core information I’d need to understand how Kristin’s hiring system works. Were I to be in consultation with her, I’d ask questions to learn about additional information which I would add to my own personal copy and share with her to get her feedback. Here’s what else I’d ask to see:
Clarify and expand the Aim of the system a bit more: How does your system’s aim align with that of Aileron? Is it really just to grow the team? Having attended a Deming Institute seminar there in 2017, I have an inkling what the organization’s aim and constancy of purpose are:
What systems depend on the Hiring System, and which do they in turn depend upon? Having stickies on either side of the map listing them would remind the System Owner how changes here could impact the organization, and conversely how outside changes could alter how the Hiring System works.
What are the baseline metrics for how the system works today? Are our metrics stable and predictable? Are they the right ones? What do they indicate? A quick capture of the most recent data on a Process Behaviour Chart would suffice.
Finally, who does what jobs in the system? It would be helpful to have simple icons or avatars with names of people who manage and operate the system to personalize it and reinforce the notion that hiring is accomplished through interactions between people. It may also help to surface whether the right people are in the roles and if where they may need help.
Reflection Questions
Consider Dr. Deming’s contrasting statements from The New Economics concerning the Present Practice and Better Practice of managing an organization. How is your organization managed today? How does the style of management affect how you work? Which sources of dissatisfaction do you think could be improved or eliminated by developing system maps to better understand how things work? Is there a plan for the future?
Consider Kristin Rhoads’ video explaining how she, as the Hiring System Owner, uses a system map to visualize inputs, outputs, conversion steps, feedbacks, and metrics. What are your impressions? How well does the map explain to you how the hiring system works? How could it be improved? What would you recommend beyond the suggestions I’ve made? If you were consulting with her, who would you recommend be involved in the making of the map? Why?
Could you create a similar map of your system today? What would be the bracketing Start and End states? Chosen vs. Imposed inputs? Desired vs. Undesired outputs? What metrics describe how your system works? Who would you need to involve to make the map? What improvement or change would you like to use the map to make?
Call to Action: Share Your Map!
Create a system map using Kristin’s as a guide and if you are comfortable doing so (sanitizing sensitive information, of course), send it along so it can be shared in a future newsletter with subscribers. If you can, make a video as Kristin has done to explain your map and the decisions you made on what to include or exclude. Let’s learn from each other!