Laws Of The Fifth Discipline And The Value Of Systems Thinking For Organizational Improvement

The City of Crestview is facing a systemic problem where there is a flaw in the system. According to the System theory, the organization is comprised of several interconnect parts, each of which is designed to achieve broader organizational goals and objectives. The system theory looks at organization in terms of inputs, processes, outputs and feedback mechanism. (Holzer & Schwester,

A system is “A set of interrelated and interdependent parts arranged in a manner that produces a unified whole” (robbins 2006), and Systems theory is the

In society, there are groups that interact with each other. They may be families, churches, government agencies, or anything in between. Those groups can be defined as systems, and in the systems perspective that is what they are referred to (Hutchison, 2017). In the 1960s, Ludwig von Bertalanffy developed the general systems theory in relation to biology, but it was widely publicized and used for various subjects (Hutchison, 2017). Hutchison (2017) summarized Bertalanffy’s theory by saying, “any element is best understood by considering its interactions with its constituent parts as well as its interactions with larger systems of which it is a part.” (p.

With today’s fast moving pace there are many challenges we face that demands more non-linear system thinking instead of cause and effect linear thinking. In The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge stated, “system thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes,” rather than reacting to a specific part or event. System thinking involves shifting from the linear to non-linear thinking and/or the rational to the intuitive or thin-slicing type decisions. System thinking is

Nassar, N. S. (2007). A Systems Approach to Organizational Development (P. Campbell, Ed.). Nashville, TN: Savant Learning

This course covered many important topics helpful in understanding learning organizations. This paper will incorporate real-life situations from my organization, The American Red Cross. It will focus on three areas I found to be most helpful and relevant to my experience which is the understanding of systems thinking, growth, and the need to practice reflection.

The General Systems Theory (GST) came about as an effort to describe the systems approach, born from the biological concept of the organism developed in the first part of the 20th century (Von Bertalanffy, 1972). In contrast to the mechanistic systems which are closed and have a direct relationship between a cause and its effect, a biological or social system is open, operating on a principle of equifinality, where regardless of the starting point, the objective can be achieved (Kast & Rosenzweig, 1972). Any system will achieve equilibrium, but an open system can reach a steady state by accessing resources from outside itself (Kast & Rosenzweig, 1972). The underlying assumptions of GST rely on the organization of a company resembling the inner workings of an organism. However, subgroups within organizations can act independently of the the whole, in

In academic institutions, when a student of the project underperforms, it impacts the entire student class-body. According to Grand Canyon University (2013) research, closed-loop system interdepend on each system, they complement, shared, and learn from each other. A closed-loop system team interacts with a learning organization through the deliverables, the daily involvement in the process, and the involvement of an active working leader. Mujtaba and Thomas (2005) asserted that values-driven management is one critical application of the system thinking paradigm where decisions are analyzed regarding its total impact from a holistic approach. Learning closed-loop systems and applying systems thinking concept is a critical leadership and organizational skill necessary in a learning organization (Mujtaba and Thomas, 2005). Leaders should search for means to deal with workplace complexity because, it natural for them to turn to the foundations and practices of systems theory, to see the impact of each generation on the success of learning organizations, to effectively maneuver through the changing landscape (Mujtaba and Thomas,

1. System Thinking: System thinking is nothing but instead of focusing on only one particular issue, we have to analyze and try to understand the entire system on the whole. With this kind of analyzation, we can easily find a solution to the problem as the problems are not confined to only a particular area or time. We might find a solution for a particular issue, somewhere in the whole system by analyzing the entire system completely. We should try to relate the actions and the consequences on the whole as the issues occur at different time levels, not confined to only one particular time level. We have to have knowledge of the relation between different departments of an organization and the relation between them and the functionality between the departments as to how they are related in an organization. We generally focus on only one particular issue rather than seeing the bug picture and that shouldn’t be done. In system thinking we analyze the big picture.

A system is a collection of elements that interact with each other over time to function as a whole. Systems thinking is a combination of the previous four practices: personal mastery, mental models, shared vision and team learning to dissect and examine the practices of the organization. I first heard learned about systems thinking five years ago when I started in the Hazelwood School District. Our district had just began our district wide professional development on systems thinking, but then we had a change in our superintendent in late August, just a few weeks after the start of school. With the change in district leadership, came a change in our district focus, and systems thinking was almost immediately abandoned. However, since revisiting it this semester, I can’t help but incorporate it into many of my daily

Systems Thinking – It is the ability to see the 10,000 foot see, and to perceive plans instead of conceptualizing change as isolated events. Systems thinking needs the other four requests to engage a learning relationship to be made sense of it. There must be a standpoint change - from being separated to interconnect to the whole, and from denouncing our issues for something external to an affirmation that how we function, our exercises, can make issues.

Organizations that strive to excel in aspects of innovation, competitiveness, and performance must have clearly defined core values that are executed by specific learning disciplines (Senge, 2010). Giesecke and McNeil (2004) stated, "A learning organization is an organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights" (p. 55). In the pursuit of defining specific practices that would produce an ideal learning organization, Senge (2008) proposes five disciplines that include, "...systems thinking, mental models, personal mastery, shared vision, and dialogue" (p. 1). In this application paper I will analyze each of the five disciplines discussed by Senge (2008) and discuss how they can be applied in an organization such as the high school where I am currently teaching to address specific areas in need of improvement.

         The sociotechnical system and managerial subsystem are affected due to the changes occurring within the company. An example of these changes is the hiring of all the individuals within the new OD group. The technical subsystem has been affected by the recent introduction of new products within the company due to competitive companies. The structural subsystem has been affected since the OD group started training company employees on management styles. The psychosocial subsystem was affected when the employees had dislike towards the OD group and the training that had been developed. Also, the OD group

Peter Senge and Andres Edwards expressed the importance of system thinking in that it is necessary for “understanding the dynamic complexity of a situation”, anticipating “the unintended consequences of proposed actions” and implementing “lasting solutions” (Higgins, K 2014).

Welcome to Focus, we are an organization that functions through a unique structure, with elements borrowed from several approaches and theories studied throughout the course of our year. Focus’s structure most closely models the systems approach. In addition to functioning like a human body, Focus has borrowed elements from the classical approach through ordered structuring of department levels, the family metaphor and human resources encapsulates our employees, and cognitive strategies to influence our decision making. Like a human body we need to operate at full capacity and so our group has added the best prescribed medicines, practices, to ensure that Focus efficiently functions internally between departments and employees as well as