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CHAPTER 5: LEADERSHIP MIND AND HEART 141
Poetry helps us recognize that we face tough questions and that we seldom have
perfect answers.” 32

Systems Thinking
Systems thinking means the ability to see the synergy of the whole rather than just Systems thinking
Systems thinking
the ability to see the synergy of
the separate elements of a system and to learn to reinforce or change whole sys- the ability to see the synergy of
the whole rather than just the
33
tem patterns. Many people have been trained to solve problems by breaking the whole rather than just the
separate elements of a system
separate elements of a system
a complex system, such as an organization, into discrete parts and working to and to learn to reinforce or
and to learn to reinforce or
change whole system patterns
make each part perform as well as possible. However, the success of each piece change whole system patterns
does not add up to the success of the whole. In fact, sometimes changing one
part to make it better actually makes the whole system function less effectively.
In recent years, new drugs have been a lifesaver for people living with HIV, for
example, but the drop in mortality rates has led to a reduction in perceived risk
and therefore more incidences of risky behavior. After years of decline, HIV in-
fection rates began rising again, indicating that the system of HIV treatment is
not well understood. California’s partial deregulation of the electricity market
was designed to lower costs to consumers, but poor understanding of the over-
all system contributed to rolling blackouts, record-high rates, and political and
economic turmoil. Or consider a small city that embarked on a road building
program to solve traffi c congestion without whole-systems thinking. With new
roads available, more people began moving to the suburbs. The solution actu-
ally increased traffi c congestion, delays, and pollution by enabling suburban
sprawl. 34
It is the relationship among the parts that form a whole system—whether it
be a community, an automobile, a non-profit agency, a human being, or a business

organization—that matters. Systems thinking enables leaders to look for patterns
of movement over time and focus on the qualities of rhythm, fl ow, direction,
shape, and networks of relationships that accomplish the performance of the
whole. Systems thinking is a mental discipline and framework for seeing patterns
and interrelationships.
It is important to see organizational systems as a whole because of their
complexity. Complexity can overwhelm leaders, undermining confi dence. When
leaders can see the structures that underlie complex situations, they can facilitate
improvement. But it requires a focus on the big picture. Leaders can develop what
David McCamus, former Chairman and CEO of Xerox Canada, calls “peripheral
vision”—the ability to view the organization through a wide-angle lens, rather
than a telephoto lens—so that they perceive how their decisions and actions affect
the whole. 35
An important element of systems thinking is to discern circles of causality.
Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline, argues that reality is made up of circles
rather than straight lines. For example, Exhibit 5.2 shows circles of infl uence for
producing new products. In the circle on the left, a high-tech firm grows rapidly

by pumping out new products quickly. New products increase revenues, which
enable the further increase of the R&D budget to add more new
products. Action Memo
But another circle of causality is being infl uenced as well. As a leader, you can cultivate an ability to
As the R&D budget grows, the engineering and research staff in- analyze and understand the relationships
creases. The burgeoning technical staff becomes increasingly hard among parts of a team, organization,
to manage. The management burden falls on senior engineers, family, or other system to avoid making
who provide less of their time for developing new products, which changes that have unintended negative
slows product development time. The slowing of product develop- consequences.
ment time has a negative impact on new products, the very thing