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This Week in Metaphors: Dishwasher as Systems Thinking Guru

  

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Sometimes I get the high privilege and distinct honor of unloading our dishwasher. Part of the married thing. Now, I don't know about you, but when I take dishes out of the dishwasher, I'm counting on them being clean.

There are times, however, when someone else in the household has loaded the dishwasher in the "pig-pile" method and many kitchen implements and drinking vessels exit as they entered. No names here, but there are two people in our household total.

At these moments, I want to sit down in front of a white board with the offending party and diagram proper placement within the dishwasher. It's just the recovering perfectionist in me. Last night though, I thought "There's a systems thinking metaphor here somewhere...!".

See, a dishwasher is a system, designed a certain way to maximize the squeaky cleanness of your dishes. There are some requirements, usually indicated by the rack design, that you need to follow in order to reach dishwasher nirvana. Let's call them variables in systems thinking speak.

Here is what the guru in my mis-loaded dishwasher taught me about systems thinking (metaphor-like):

1. Know which way the water flows - in an organization, this is the culture and political system. In both the dishwasher and your company, this is a critical piece of systems thinking knowledge that often goes overlooked. Are there multiple power jets spinning on high-speed arms or a single alien-like spray shaft that rises from the center of the bottom? Once you know this, figuring out where to effectively place the pieces becomes easier.

2. Look for obstacles of the washer arm - You know how sometimes a skinny piece of silverware or a tall wine glass prevents the sprayer from rotating? Small thing, but big impact on cleaning effectiveness. Same thing with getting things done in an organization. Look for small but easily solved issues you might have overlooked that would prevent a project from gaining traction. Check your assumptions (and your silverware basket) first, this is where the obstacles hide.

3. Check your ricochet angles - When you put that funky football-shaped appetizer plate on the bottom rack, check to see where the water will hit it and where that water will go. You may realize that something on the top rack will miss out on some crucial suds! Same thing for decisions in your department - what are the unintended consequences you hadn't thought of? How will this impact other departments, vendors or customers?? "Bias For Action" has been a popular success criterion, but take more time to plan on the front end in order to avoid rewashing dishes on the back end.

If nothing else, I know darned well that you are going to check out your dishwasher a little more closely. Maybe it will spur you to find your own metaphors to explain systems thinking in a practical way. If so, we'd love to read them!

Leave us some comments below on your favorite metaphors or on your strategy for loading your dishwasher!

Related resources:

• Download Free Whitepaper - Organizational Change: Moving to a Matrix Organization
• 6 Keys to Project Success