2-Day Systems Thinking Workshop Description
Don't Let Your Problems Go Viral
As organizations become more complex, simple problems have vanished. They have been replaced by problems that are inter-connected and multi-dimensional. Many of these problems have powerful potential impacts, and often unknown long-term consequences. Many are loaded with unintended implications that, if left unaddressed, can quickly go “viral”.
Upgrade Your Decision-Making Skills
The decision-making capabilities of leaders that have been gained from conventional linear problem solving models have been left in the dust of a bygone time of simpler, less dynamic and complicated organizational life. Yet most leaders continue to evaluate problems as isolated incidents, and spend time trying to fix symptoms rather than understanding the underlying and systemic implications.
Systems thinking provides a new way of thinking about complexity and complex business problems.
The approach and methodology of the WSA Systems Thinking program, “Resolving Complex Business Problems,” offers a practical and productive way to understand and model the inter-connected nature of complex problems. This program introduces Systems Thinking as a practical methodology for resolving complex business problems.
Who Would Benefit
Appropriate for audiences from CEOs to frontline managers, Systems Thinking makes it easier to understand and unravel complex business issues. By better upfront defining and diagnosing of problems, participants can more effectively determine how those choices will lead to tomorrow’s business successes or failures.
This fast-paced 2-day workshop uses a combination of business simulation (the famous Beer Game), real work case studies, peer learning, and expert-led discussions to create an engaging and lasting learning experience. Participants will leave with improved ability to understand, model, and resolve complex business dilemmas, as well as greater skill in driving collaboration and cross-fertilization of ideas throughout their organization.
Participants Will Learn How To:
- Understand organizational challenges from a systems' perspective and design solutions that leverage strengths
- Anticipate the intended and unintended consequences of today's decisions
- Use Causal Loop Diagrams (the principal tool of Systems Thinking), to properly diagnose and re-solve the most critical and complex organizational issues
- View organizations as an inter-related and inter-dependent system rather than a collection of separate entities (i.e. departments, product groups, business units).
Program Benefits:
Becoming proficient with the tools and concepts of Systems Thinking allows participants to understand, model and test business assumptions and decisions. This ability can have a tremendous impact on the contribution an individual can make to an organization.
Thinking Systemically will give participants the knowledge and tools to:
- Improve the “hit-ratio” of good decisions
- Become a more valued team members by increasing participants’ ability to understand and manage increasingly complex organizations
- Model and predict the impact that decisions will have throughout the organization before they are implemented
- Avoid short-term thinking that can create long-term problems
- Increase participants contributions to shaping the strategic direction of their organizations
- Encourage engagement, and enhance “leadership responsibility,” including the capabilities and actions in service of long lasting, systemic change.
MORE INFORMATION
All workshops can be customized to meet the particular learning and business objectives of your organization.