Opportunities and Problems: An Approach To Try

Blog 19 Opportunities and Problems: An Approach to Try

Most of us find that we need to solve problems of one type or another on an ongoing basis. Some of us will face a problem head on and work to solve it. Others will let it mellow in the back of their minds while they do other things. Today I want to talk about the systems approach to problem solving or taking advantage of opportunities. There are many different versions of this method, but the core concept of any version is to focus on the end results needed and how those results will be measured to see if the problem or opportunity has been addressed.

Basically the systems approach is a structured method for working to achieve an identified result. Also, if you document the steps needed and taken, you can keep track of what you have done. This can help for follow-up projects and it also can help to report activity and progress to sponsors, managers and or other interested or impacted people.

https://www.foresightdesign.org/blog/2017/5/10/what-does-systems-thinking-even-mean

WHAT DOES SYSTEMS THINKING EVEN MEAN?
May 10, 2017 Lyndon Valicenti
From Foresight Design Initiative

“A critical first step in systems thinking is visualization. Foresight starts almost every project by creating a “systems map” (or diagram) to better understand and make explicit the key elements, root causes, feedback loops, and forces of change in a system. Produced with stakeholders within the system, this map can reveal key pain and opportunity points for strategic interventions to move the system closer to optimization. We believe that you must take the time to “see” the system before you can change it.”

I have found that, while there are many people who have heard of the systems approach, most really don’t know what it is. The systems approach has many proponents and many others who believe it is too complex or too time consuming to be practical. In my opinion, one of the key advantages of using a systems approach is that you have a structured methodology and you can make it as simple or as complex as you and your team want it to be. I found it interesting to read that others too found that the systems approach is not that well understood.

https://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/what-systems-approach-anyway

What is a systems approach, anyway?
The World Bank
SUBMITTED BY DAVID EVANS ON MON, 02/27/2017
CO-AUTHOR: TRACY WILICHOWSKI

“If you’re like us, there is so much talk about systems that it can be easy to get lost. At a recent event, we asked a mixed group of operational teams and researchers, “How confident are you that you know what a systems approach is?” Nearly 40 percent had little to no idea.”

Many people see the systems approach as a rigid process that doesn’t allow for any variations. My thinking is, as you look at using any version of a systems approach, use what works for you. Don’t be afraid to modify or change what you are doing as long as you always focus on the end results needed. That doesn’t mean that you won’t modify the end results as you go along. But the focus needs to remain on the end results and how those results need to be measured (examples include increased revenue, fewer errors and so forth) Measurable results along with identified statements of the desired end results are key. You need to be able to measure observable, demonstrable, concrete outcomes.

https://hbr.org/2017/01/are-you-solving-the-right-problems

Are You Solving the Right Problems?
Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg
FROM THE JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2017 ISSUE Harvard Business Review

“How good is your company at problem solving? Probably quite good, if your managers are like those at the companies I’ve studied. What they struggle with, it turns out, is not solving problems but figuring out what the problems are. In surveys of 106 C-suite executives who represented 91 private and public-sector companies in 17 countries, I found that a full 85% strongly agreed or agreed that their organizations were bad at problem diagnosis, and 87% strongly agreed or agreed that this flaw carried significant costs. Fewer than one in 10 said they were unaffected by the issue. The pattern is clear: Spurred by a penchant for action, managers tend to switch quickly into solution mode without checking whether they really understand the problem.”

Using a systems approach and modifying as needed allows for better identification of what the real problems are. A search of the term systems approach will yield several different benefits, disadvantages, applications and more. I recommend that you select an approach that might help solve the problem or opportunity you are working on, and test it out. My mantra is to always focus on end results and measurable goals. Then you will want to identify the steps to get there and any roadblocks or other events that could get in the way of achieving the end goals. Also identify some examples of success; ways to test for needed results, revisions as needed wherever it makes sense. Don’t worry about following a rigid structure. But, always keep the end goal(s) in mind.

A search of articles, studies, reports etc. will yield various definitions of the systems approach and the steps to take. This is an approach you may want to use. It is important to document the actions and results of each step as you go along.

1. Start with a focus group, or even just a few people familiar with the situation that want to contribute to identifying the needed solution or at least defining the situation as it now exists.
2. Define the problem or the opportunity
3. It is important to document your current understanding of the problem or opportunity at hand. A brain dump will work; just get thoughts into a file.
4. Identify the needed end result; this must be something that is observable and measurable. What can someone see being done?
5. What measurement will show the results of the effort?
6. What could go wrong
7. What are the missteps that are known at this point
8. How can the missteps be mitigated or prevented or fixed
9. How can interim steps be measured
10. How can the practicality of the steps both major and minor be tested for effectiveness
11. Identify potential solutions
12. Evaluate and select method for moving forward
13. Design, develop, pilot, revise and evaluate, modify if necessary
14. Implement solution

It is very important to continue to think about the project goals. You may identify issues that need to be fixed or an opportunity that looks to be appropriate. But as you work through the steps needed to identify solutions and evaluate how well they meet the needs of the organization, the objectives and needed results may change.

Again, document each result of these steps as you complete them. Modify or change objectives and needed results based on your findings. Whether or not you change the needed end results along the way, make sure you focus on the end result at all times.

I encourage you to look at on-line posts about systems models if you would like more detail about implementing a systems model. Here are just a couple of the many I have found.

http://www.systemswiki.org/index.php?title=Applying_the_Systems_Approach

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1025470015275

Brain and Mind
August 2003, Volume 4, Issue 2, pp 283–295
• Authors: Dilip Patel,
• Shushma Patel

I hope you try using the systems approach and see if it helps you to address you current opportunities and problems.