The science of systems thinking

1. Influencing Leadership with
SystemsThinking
Anand Murthy Raj
Director, Agile Spirit Pvt Ltd
Partner, Blinklane consulting NL

2. Inspiration
Peter Michael Senge Dr. Russell Ackoff Dr. Peter F Drucker

3. What is Systems thinking?

4. What do you understand?

5. What is a system ?
1. A system as a whole made up of more than 2 parts
2. None of them have an independent effect on the
whole
3. The parts of the system are interconnected; Direct
and Indirect
4. Combining parts creates a sub system and
subsystems have an impact of the behavior of the
whole
1. System as a whole cannot be divided into Individual parts
2. Essential property of the system is derived by the inter connections of the parts
and not how they behave individually
3. The defining properties of any system is a property as a whole and not its
individual parts

6. The fundamental problem
A human body is an organism with Life only of the inter connections work efficiently
A clock runs with the inter communication of number of its parts
A whole train can take passengers from one place to other , but not a single part
taken separately can do it
A system cannot be broken into smaller parts , it has be viewed as a whole and its
efficiency is not the sum of all its parts, but a product of its interactions as a whole
The western belief is wrong – Divide and Conquer

7. Leaders – Hierarchy of content of mind
An ounce of information is worth a pound of data
An ounce of knowledge is worth a pound of information
An ounce of understanding is worth a pound of knowledge
An ounce of wisdom is worth a pound of understanding
We try to teach knowledge; How can you teach if you do not posses it?
Data , Information, Knowledge , Understanding - Doing right things –
Efficiency
Wisdom - Doing this right – How to make it more efficient
Wisdom – Defines Efficiency vs Effectiveness

8. The Leaders dilema
Doing right things wrong vs doing wrong things right
1. Current concern with the Health care Industry
2. It is a sick and disable care system not health care system
3. Focus is on maintenance of sickness and disability
4. Prevention is better than cure – at the cost of what?
Ref : https://trailofpapercuts.wordpress.com/2015/04/17/marketing-indian-hospitals/

9. How should leaders teach ?
1. Teaching is not about imparting knowledge ; Its about
inspiring students learn
2. Teaching is a great skill to impart learning; Being taught
hinders learning
3. Teaching is an obstruction for learning
4. Facilitative Teaching vs Domesticated Animal Teaching

10. Leaders Focus
Two critical factors that enable intellectual growth and wisdom are
Capacity to learn new skills
Motivation to learn

11. An example
The problem Statement
• A city in the US 100% Black population
• In the 1960s it was at the bottom
• None of them who passed the school was able to read
Observations
• Realized at 65% of the students did not have a book at home
• They had never seen a parent read
• Rival groupism existed at the age of 12
• All of kids at school were very intelligent
• Reading was a whitish thing
The Result
• By the end of the semester, all of them knew how to read; mastery in reading
• The city has received 17 national awards
• The city has given interview in 7 major national television programs
• Leadership has received all kinds of awards

12. An example
System solution
• Create an environment where there is desire to learn
• Enable students to learn
• Create a self motivational environment
What was done
• CharlieChaplin movies were played without voice
• Any student can go and watch the movie
• No permission to be sought to watch the movie
• In order to enjoy students were forced to read the subtitle

13. Leaders - Nurture Learning
Top 4 statisticians did not even have a
statics degree
60 undergraduate students were given
challenges
Ohio – Order Mgmt system
Cleveland – Energy saver on the high way
Cleveland –Water Flow systems

14. Leaders – Understanding problems as a system
Island of Borneo

15. A case study
Ref: https://www.ted.com/talks/atul_gawande_how_do_we_heal_medicine#t-102342

16. Leaders –Solutions create new problems
Ref: https://www.ted.com/talks/atul_gawande_how_do_we_heal_medicine#t-102342
1. Around 1937 - Medicine was cheap and
ineffective
2. If patients were in hospital, it offered
• Food
• Shelter
• Warmth
• Caring attention of nurse
• Doctors and Medicine made no effect
3. Doctors treated the patients for “known issues” (Pneumonia, Excessive
bleeding, Early signs of Paralysis)
4. No treatment was available for all the diseases
5. Doctors had a life as a craftsman
6. Doctors had to learn and do a lot of experiments
7. Independent, Self sufficiency and Autonomy was the highest value

17. Leaders –Solutions create new problems
Ref: https://www.ted.com/talks/atul_gawande_how_do_we_heal_medicine#t-102342
Today’s challenge
1. Treatment for 1000s of conditions
2. 4000 medical and surgical procedures
3. 6000 drugs licensed to prescribe
4. It takes 15 full time clinicians to take
care of a patient in a hospital today
5. All are specialists today
6. Trained and rewarded the staff to be cow boys and not pit crews
o 40% of coronary artery disease patients receive incomplete care
o 60% of Asthma and Stroke patients receive incomplete care
o Around 2Million patients every day come to hospitals and catch
new infections –Why?
7. Unmanageable cost – We say that’s the way it is
8. 40,000 USD cost of hip /knee replacement
9. The best care are the ones which are least expensive

18. Leaders –Solutions create new problems
Ref: https://www.ted.com/talks/atul_gawande_how_do_we_heal_medicine#t-102342
Systems thinking Applied
1. Treatments and Doctors – Systems thinking
2. Components - Best drugs, Best technologies, best specialists – no best
results (car)
3. Issue to be solved “Deaths during Surgery”
4. Aviation and skyscraper Industry - High risk Industries
5. They got the lead Boeing Design engineer to help build a checklist
1. Pause points (Before anesthesia , before skin incision, before patient
leaves the OT)
2. Recipe for how to have a team to be ready for unexpected
3. Introduce everyone and get to know
6. The complication fell by 35%, death rates fell by 47%- Bigger than the drug!!
The three points of approach
• Identify the failures (data)
• Thinks of options systematically
• Implement the approach as a system
New skills
• Team work , Humility and Discipline
• Opposite of Autonomy and Self sufficiency
• Make systems work
• Complexity needs group success

19. Leaders –The art of problem solving
• Split problems into sections as per our perception
• In reality only six subjects existed in 1900
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Biology
• Psychology
• Sociology
• In 2010 there are 450 disciplines ; created a filing system for knowledge
• We interpret the problem based on our domain knowledge
Is it a medical
problem?
Is it a Economics
problem?
Is it a Social
problem?
Dept of Economics
Dept of Social
work
Dept of
Community
Medicine

20. Leaders –The art of problem di-solving
The art of problem di-solving
is an art of solving problems
within the context of the
system with no new issues

22. Anand Murthy Raj
anandmurthy.raj@gmail.com
+91 9845707457