A Whole Systems Approach, Part 02/14
NOTE: This is a fourteen (14) part series written by Ed Brimmer. I'm reposting his series here, with his permission. For all posts in the series, click here. Thanks for visiting! Lou Hayes, Jr.
As we learned in Part 1 of the Series the Zen of A Whole Systems Approach is to recognize that it is quite possible to improve parts while destroying the whole system at the same time. As a familiar analogy, think of an automobile where improving one part may destroy other interdependencies of that system. For example, if the transmission or other parts cannot handle a new engine you may destroy the whole car itself. This analogy leads us into the next part of the series quite elegently. Given the scenario above there are many folks who may decide that repairing a car creates to much risk so they instead decide to replace the whole car to eliminate the problems all at once. This approach of replacing the whole system is exactly why Ackoff is saying we should redesign the whole system instead of only improving parts. Just like the car analogy, if you want the problems of the old to go away, replacing it is a sure fire way to do so. Thus, if you want to eliminate the problems of Agile, SAFe, Lean, or Waterfall you must redesign the whole system and stop improving parts only. This sets the stage for the next 12 parts in the series which will show you how to redesign the whole system to eliminate your problems.
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To begin at Part 01 of the series, click here.
To advance to the next Part 03, click here.
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Author: Ed Brimmer. Biography coming soon.
As we learned in Part 1 of the Series the Zen of A Whole Systems Approach is to recognize that it is quite possible to improve parts while destroying the whole system at the same time. As a familiar analogy, think of an automobile where improving one part may destroy other interdependencies of that system. For example, if the transmission or other parts cannot handle a new engine you may destroy the whole car itself. This analogy leads us into the next part of the series quite elegently. Given the scenario above there are many folks who may decide that repairing a car creates to much risk so they instead decide to replace the whole car to eliminate the problems all at once. This approach of replacing the whole system is exactly why Ackoff is saying we should redesign the whole system instead of only improving parts. Just like the car analogy, if you want the problems of the old to go away, replacing it is a sure fire way to do so. Thus, if you want to eliminate the problems of Agile, SAFe, Lean, or Waterfall you must redesign the whole system and stop improving parts only. This sets the stage for the next 12 parts in the series which will show you how to redesign the whole system to eliminate your problems.
***
To begin at Part 01 of the series, click here.
To advance to the next Part 03, click here.
***
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