Tag Archives | Systems

Contests, Captains and Crashes

By Susan on April 12, 2011 in Curiosity, Human Systems

There’s Big Stuff happening here at Susan T. Blake Consulting, with system crashes and their attendant learning opportunities, new programs, a Contest (scroll to the end if you can’t wait), and a new series of Guest Posts on Curiosity. Read On!!!

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Captains Curious

You may have noticed that on the last two Thursdays I have run guest posts on the subject of Curiosity, one of my favorite topics! (Click here to read them.) I’m thrilled to tell you that these are just the beginning of a weekly series!

After approaching several people and inviting them to participate, the response has been fantastic! There are several weeks of fun and thought-provoking posts ahead, with people in a variety of roles exploring why curiosity is important, what role it plays in their lives, when (and why) curiosity is challenging, and more.

Why am I doing this? Well, I am a big fan of Wonder and Curiosity. In fact, I’d go so far as to make two pretty bold statements:

Wonder saved my life.

-and-

Curiosity can save the world.

I believe curiosity doesn’t only help us to solve problems and be more creative and play well with others. Curiosity also can be used to understand ourselves better. And that makes it a pretty extraordinary Super Power – one each of us can access.

So, in the interest of broadening the discussion and bringing you more perspectives than just mine, I have launched a series of posts by curious guests – nicknamed the Captains Curious.

Are you curious? I hope that you will check back every Thursday for the next installment from the newest of the Captains Curious. (You can have these and my other blog posts delivered to via email or RSS by signing up in the second blue box at right.)

Meanwhile, I will continue writing about wonder, curiosity, business, nature, and other things, and making connections between them that I hope will help and entertain you. Whether you agree or disagree with something that’s been written, please leave a comment!

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Crash Course in (My Own) Process Improvement

Last week Susan T. Blake Consulting suffered a disastrous systems failure. Luckily, cool heads prevailed and all is now well. But important lessons (or at least reminders) came out of it that I want to share with you:

Our Operating System had fallen so far behind the current supported version that several vital pieces of business and communication software were no longer compatible, leaving us less and less able to connect effectively with colleagues around the world. After performing a back-up of the current system, the Operating System upgrade was initiated.

The Scream, by Edvard Munch 1893

It promptly crashed the system and wiped the hard drive.

After conferring with outside consultants with expertise not possessed by our internal team, the upgrade was completed.

Meanwhile, emergency meetings were held to assess the potential damage and establish a recovery plan (corrective action). The Disaster Recovery team went into action and quickly discovered that the systems backup was incomplete, as it only included data and not applications. A long process of re-installing original applications and then downloading upgrades, as well as re-downloading applications acquired online, was undertaken.

The CEO also called meetings of the C-level executives to address root cause(s) of the debacle, assess lessons learned and implement process improvements (preventive action):

The Chief Operating Officer assured the others that processes scheduled on external systems (blog posts and Tweets) were unaffected.
The Chief Information Officer confirmed that application software was available for reinstallation and that the Disaster Recovery team was busy with reinstalling, upgrading and testing applications, and that key data was safe and available for restoration.
The Chief Financial Officer reported that no hard dollars were lost due to the crash, but that soft dollars were certainly impacted due to lost productivity.
The Chief Risk Officer admitted that a Lessons Learned review had revealed that a poor planning process had allowed for only a partial backup, an oversight that is being corrected in a new backup plan.

After a long process of reinstalling applications, downloading upgrades, restoring data, and systems testing, the Distaster Recovery team announced that all systems were Go and the team was rewarded with a round of applause and a day off.

The moral of the story is four-fold:

Do regular system backups and always do a complete system backup before upgrading business critical systems.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help from outside experts.
Be curious about the root causes of problems and accept and communicate Lessons Learned without blaming or scapegoating.
Remember to say Thank You to people and reward them for their efforts, even if they are “just doing their job.”

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Contest Time!

Last but not least, it’s Contest Time!

Is there something that has been tickling your mind or blocking your path? Something you would like to explore and hash out with a group of colleagues or trusted friends?

Do you need an objective third party to come in and facilitate, or provide a fresh perspective?

You’re in luck!

Enter to win a FREE* custom half-day workshop or retreat ($500 value)!!!

Whether you want to address a business challenge, or a career, spiritual, relationship, or creativity issue, or you just want a mental massage, I will work with you to identify the topic and desired outcomes and I will design a custom 4-hour workshop for four to eight people on the subject of your choice.

Simply send a short email to susan@susanTblake.com with the subject line “Contest Time!” In your email, please include your name, phone number, email address, City and State, and a brief description of the workshop or retreat you want to hold and why. The winning entry will be selected by a panel of judges.

Entries are due by Tuesday, April 19, 2011. Yes, you have one week!

*Entries will be accepted from all over, but entrants from outside the greater San Francisco Bay Area must assume travel and lodging expenses if their entry is selected.

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Meanwhile, you might be interested in visiting the blogs of Gwyn Teatro and Amy Oscar, who have written two wonderful posts that talk about Curiosity in very different contexts: Leadership and dealing with anxiety. Both are excellent!

March Madness, or How the Final Four Made Me Think About Systems Thinking

By Susan on April 30, 2010 in Systems Thinking

Disclaimer: I know very little about sports like basketball and baseball, and I am likely to show more about what I don’t know than what I do know. But here goes.

Recently I was watching my favorite news show (Charlie Rose, who is a big basketball fan), and the first topic was an analysis of the Final Four. Which teams had the best players, the best coaches, the best strategies, the best teamwork. And it occurred to me that basketball is really about Systems Thinking.

There are a lot of skills that are required in basketball, including the individual skills like shooting, dribbling, jumping, rebounding, and so on. There are a lot of interpersonal skills, whether offensive, like passing, or defensive, like guarding. But what really makes a team work is teamwork. Systems Thinking.

Thinking about things like, Where are the other players on my team at every given moment? Where are the players on the other team? Where are they likely to go next? Oh, and Where is the ball in relationship to all of those people? What are the possibilities if we can get the ball positioned over here instead of over there? What are the possibilities if the other team moves it this way rather than that way?

It isn’t just about “How do I get the ball?” or “What do I do once I’ve got the ball in order to get the shot?” It’s about “Where do I need to be whether I’ve got the ball or not?” and “What series of moves do we need to make together even it if means somebody else takes the shot?” and “How do we close the gap so the other team can’t take the shot?”

Systems Thinking.

Baseball is a little different, because there isn’t the constant opportunity for turning over from defense to offense and back again at any given moment. An entire team is on defense and one person on offense has the opportunity to hit the ball. The defensive players just have to be ready to catch the ball and get it to the right place to throw the runner out. (I know, I just ignored the crucial role of the pitcher in keeping the batter from hitting the ball in the first place.) This becomes increasingly complex, however, when the offensive team has runners on base. The pitcher has to anticipate who might try to steal, and the other defensive players have to be ready if the ball comes to them and choose the most important position to get the ball to in order to throw a runner out. It’s even harder when there is a series of actions that need to happen – in the right order – and this is why a triple play is so exciting.

Systems Thinking.

Do you find yourself standing in the outfield, terrified you’ll drop the fly-ball? Or even more terrified you’ll catch it and have to decide where to throw it next? Are you a player who only thinks about rushing the ball to the basket and taking the shot? Do you, as a manager, have a team that runs smoothly, passing the ball and being able to effectively assess where it needs to go next based on constantly changing scenarios? Or is your team so mired in process that they can’t respond quickly to changing conditions? Are they all individual contributors, some always taking the ball, some never even thinking about where the ball came from or where it goes once they pass it? Are they terrified if it comes to them?

A player who lacks individual competence and confidence will likely only think systemically in order to protect him or herself, whereas a player who has individual competence and confidence may not think about the rest of the system at all.

Systems Thinking. It requires a level of individual competence and confidence from each of the players, and it also requires thinking about the other parts of the system and the ability to think forward in time.

How good is your team at it?

Please leave a comment by clicking on this post’s title.

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Tag Archives | Systems