Change and Challenge 171the rest of the system for the whole system to work well. Work-
ing well means working together. In a business, it comes down
to people talking to each other and sharing information.
Because of the connections and communication in a sys-
tem you can never just do one thing. The effects of decisions
ripple outwards, like dropping a stone into a pool. Systems
thinking means seeing patterns – how what you do comes
back to you to influence your next move. It means thinking
in circles rather than straight lines – circles rippling out-
wards, and circles of cause and effect where the effect of one
decision becomes the cause of the next.
Communication itself is an example. When you talk to
someone, they hear you, react to your voice tone and body
language, and reply. You respond to what they say and de-
cide what to say next by how they reacted to what you said
previously. The conversation flows as a circle, because their
response is feedback to you about what you have said, and
what you say is feedback to them. A favourable response
encourages you to continue the conversation along the same
lines as before. When someone does not reply, we draw
conclusions from it, just as when they do reply. We cannot
notcommunicate – we make meaning of every response,
including no response.
When you get a hostile response, it makes sense to do and
say something different, yet there are too many examples of
people doing the same thing harder, or doing twice as
much, and expecting a different response. Take into ac-
count the feedback you are getting and try something
different if necessary.
perspectives
Think of looking at a complex system like looking at an un-
known object that has at least five dimensions. One
viewpoint gives just one perspective, true from that angle,
but an incomplete picture of the whole object. You need the
details andthe big picture anda view in depth, so you need
many perspectives.