Kim Woods Only (602 3.2)

150-200 words per post

respond to each  post

2 references per post

Post #1

Upon review of this week’s reference material and Daniel Kim’s website, A system Archetype that could have helped solve a problem in the past would have been the “fixes that backfire” template. According to Senge et al. (1994 p. 126), “the central theme of this archetype is that any decision carries long-term and short-term consequences that are often opposed.” Indicators of a structure in which this archetype may be necessary include a feeling of powerlessness by people when confronted with the consequences of their actions, small triumphs, and long troughs when analyzing current problems, and the sensation that the same solution needs to attempted multiple times to the point in which one finds themselves resisting the idea of trying any other solution (Senge et al., 1994). Succesful application of the Fixes that Fail archetype requires acknowledging up front that the fix is merely alleviation a symptom and making a commitment to solve the real problem that will help ensure one does not get caught in a perpetual cycle of solving yesterday’s solutions (Kim, n.d.).

Yes, system archetypes are useful. In personal past experiences application of the “fixes that backfire” archetype would have prevented my organization from implementing solutions that focused on providing immediate solutions but did not take into consideration whether or not the solution would present long-term issues. The most recent experience I had in which this archetype would have been useful was in preparing for a seven month Navy deployment in 2016. The commanding officer was adamant that personnel turnover during deployment would be eliminated to the maximum extent possible. In his past experiences, this had worked well and increased operational readiness. What he did not realize was that the Navy’s current manpower process did not take into consideration a Sailor’s previous work related experience as they had in past years. My organization did achieve the goal of minimizing the number of personnel turnovers that occurred during the deployment but received numerous Sailors who had never worked on the FA-18 platform to replace the members who had departed. Our solution did indeed “backfire” and require fixing.

Reference

s:

Kim, D. (n.d.), Fixes that fail: Oiling the squeaky wheel again and again. Retrieved from https://thesystemsthinker.com.

Senge, P., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R., Smith, B. (1994). The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, New York: Doubleday.

Post #2

After I learned about systems archetypes, I realized that actually creating a diagram to a personal issue might be quite the challenge. However, where these could come in handy are using them as lenses, structural pattern templates, dynamic scripts, or tools for predicting behaviors, as intended (Kleiner, 1994). In other words, these just help a group generate discussion to solve the issue. You will not find the answer after creating a diagram, but they will spark creativity, imagination, and the conversation that will inevitably lead to the solution.

I think in my life, I tend to see “shifting the burden/addiction” most commonly out of the eight presented by Kleiner (1994). In Shifting the burden, symptoms to issues are addressed and lessen the pressure for a short amount of time. However, once that symptom come back, so does the problem, along with other side effects and symptoms that were ignored in the process (Senge, 1994). I can see how this can be easy to do because many peopl ewill address the symptom and believe the issue will go away with it. Many people do this with medication. They take pain killers or “cover up” medication that make them feel better while the medication is in effect, however they do not actually attack the root issue/virus. In college, I used to work at the campus police department and was one of the leads of a cadet program. Often, we would try to come up with solutions to underage drinking. Many officers would say “just shoo them away,” or “arrest the under-agers” and be black and white about the issue. I would always come back with and suggest maybe programs or ore information that we should be pushing out so students would know the real life dangers of drinking too much or could at least know a number to call for a cab to reduce drunk driving accidents. This was the case with many issues on campus from sexual assaults to domestic violence. People would react to the symptoms and not want to get to the root cause, mostly for the ease of the solution.

Overall, I think system archetypes can be effective if used correctly. If they are used as guidelines to suggest possible paths to solutions, then they can be effective (Senge, 2006). If they are treated as problem solvers, then the user will be very disappointed that they only came up with a squiggly diagram and not come to a solution at all. This could be a very useful tool to present a concern/problem and show how you need to come to a solution.

Resources:

Senge, P.M. (2006). The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization (Rev. ed.). New York, N.Y.: Crown Business.

Senge, P.M., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R.B.,& Smith, B.J. (1994). The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization. New York, N.Y.:Doubleday.

Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R., Senge, P. & Smith, B. (1994). The fifth discipline fieldbook: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization. New York, NY: Doubleday

Post #3

First, great friendly link that I was able to utilize. Second, Daniel Kim made it easy for me to completely comprehend what systems thinking is and even better, what archetypes can do if applied correctly to your organizational problem. According to Peter Senge (2006), “systems archetypes are certain patterns of structure that recur again and again” (p. 93). There are archetypes that you can apply as toolkits to diagnose an organizational problem. In Daniel Kim’s (2000) “Systems archetypes I” he listed many archetypes toolkits to include, “Shifting the burden, Limits to success, Tragedy of the commons etc.” (p. 6). After reading Daniel Kim’s System Archetypes I, the archetype that I would employ is “Shifting of burden”. According to Kleiner & Roberts & Ross & Senge & Smith’s (1994) “The Fifth Discipline Field book” Shifting of burden, “shows patterns that relies on short -term fixes while efforts to correct the real underlying problem grows weaker” (p. 123). When I was a First Sergeant of a 171 Soldier company I could have used the shifting of burden toolkit to find a solution to my organizational problem at the time. The Army has an award procedure that we all must use but after it leaves my company it is up to the battalion and brigade to continue to approve these awards. The structure is such that after the signatures from the leadership is done it is approved, printed and giving back to me so my commander and I can have presented it to the Soldier who is leaving the Army, or going to a new unit. The top always says to do the award 90 days out but even when I do the award never comes back in time to present to the Soldier. Thus, the Soldier leaves without their award and the brigade gets mad at me even though I had done it even before the 90-day mark. The short-term fix of which I did was to personally have it signed by the battalion commander (as they were the cause of the problem for example keeping it for 80 days before sending it up to brigade) and then personally taking it to the brigade. The problem was that doing this “quick fix” had me fall behind on my other duties and the situation got worse as I was talked by my leadership for constantly walking the award up and not letting the process take care of itself. If I had done the shifting of burden archetype I could have fundamentally seen the underlying problem that the Administrative department on both the battalion and brigade were overtasked and did not have the appropriate level of personnel to do all the administrative tasks of the five companies (to include mine). Had I known this I could have helped by providing three Soldiers to help the battalion which would have aided the battalion tremendously and awards and other administrative paperwork could have been processed at a 90% instead of 20% it had. Big lesson if I would have seen the patterns and holistic view that developed.

Systems archetypes are useful tools of which I think should be utilized at every organizations. For one, there are many types of archetypes tools an organization can practice, these tools provide a mental model (can see) that helps consider their companies structure, and develops the managers and leaders on processes that they may not have seen before in their organization.

Reference

Daniel, K. (2000). Systems archetypes I: Diagnosing systemic issues ad designing high-leverage interventions. Retrieved 23 January 2018 from https://thesystemsthinker.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Systems-Archetypes-I-TRSA01_pk

Senge, P. (2006). The fifth discipline: the art and science of a learning organization. New York, NY: Currency/ Doubleday.

Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R., Senge, P. & Smith, B. (1994). The fifth discipline field book: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization. New York, NY: Doubleday.