BUSINESS RESEARCH

Whole System Methods

Many of the pieces of research in this month’s scan highlight the need for companies to develop their capability to handle complexity. Arguing the case for such investments can be challenging as many senior managers whilst used to the idea of businesses and markets being complicated are often far less comfortable with the idea of complexity. A complicated system can be very intricate and detailed, but it is essentially predictable. Whereas a complex system is one that is so complicated, interact

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October 2011

The mechanics of Isaac Newton work well with complicated systems but it is quantum mechanics which may be said to apply to complex ones. Increasingly, businesses need ways to find value amongst the ‘emergent’ changes happening in this complex world. There are many ways to do this but a core approach that has evolved over the last 25 and more years is based on the one simple idea – if you want to understand and change a system then you have to get the whole system in the room.

‘Newtonian’ managers when faced with responding to an emergent challenge will often seek to appoint a small project team whose job it will be to research the matter, analyse the root causes and come up a plan to move forwards. However this approach is often short on creativity (a purely analytical approach is usually insufficiently innovative), commitment (stakeholders are consulted but rarely fully engaged in getting to grips with the issue) and complexity (it is unlikely that such a project team will be able to grasp the many and subtle dimensions of the matter in hand). And so a pallid plan – high on gloss and action ‘points’ but low on real widespread action and lasting results – is produced.

Whole system methods (which include such approaches as Future Search, Open Space, World Cafe and Appreciative Inquiry) are designed to match the complexity of today. By getting all the stakeholders together in rich and creative conversations where the focus is on shared understanding, the future and collaborative action, a great deal more can be achieved that using more traditional approaches.

Referenced techniques

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