Translator's Note:In contrast to the traditional "third party" approach, the "system-wide" approach challenges consultants to abandon the role of "expert" and move away from leading data collection and analysis, but retreating to the role of facilitator, facilitating group participation and generating collective intelligence. Perhaps more challengingly, this approach requires managers of the client organization to temporarily relinquish their position privileges and stop trying to be in control, but instead be willing to accept the unknown and uncertainty, and allow the group to find its own problems and solutions. "Trust the process" is the underlying belief that underpins the success of a system-wide approach.
Mei Mei Hong.
A system-wide approach to exploration, flamecentre, 6 min.
Sometimes, people who are about to be affected by change can participate in the process of exploration, suggestion, decision-making and action, which is a "system-wide" approach, whereby the people of change participate in the process on their own behalf.
The essence of a system-wide approach is to have everyone in the same room at the same time. This strengthens the sense of belonging to the community in the organization and allows people to work on the basis of equal access to information and a common database. At the same time, because everyone will hear the same thing, you can avoid the limitations of having a small group of people work out the best solution for a large group.
The main advantage of this approach is that there is no longer a need to sell the course of action to anyone, especially those lower in the system. When our goal is to win people's inner commitment to change, sales pitching is the least effective way to do it. No matter how persuasive the pitch may be, people will resist the changes that are imposed on them.
The power of a system-wide approach does not come from the impetus of managers, but from the high level of involvement and commitment of the entire organization. But the system-wide approach is not without the support of managers, who are in the same room, but the success or failure of things is less dependent on their facilitating role and more on collective knowledge, common purpose, and commitment to making decisions for themselves.
"System-wide" means that you want representatives from all parts of the system to be in the room, but this does not mean that everyone in the client organization needs to be in the room, but that at least a large sample of those responsible for implementing the recommendations for action can be involved, and they will have a major role in developing the action plan. A system-wide approach would allow the change process to be more self-managed than a third-party approach. But if everyone in the client organization can actually be in the same room, and the organization's work schedule allows them to come together, invite everyone to be there so you don't have to worry about bridging the gap between the small group of people who are attending and the large group of people who are not attending.
The value of a system-wide approach is that it allows the whole system to participate in the self-assessment of the status quo and the development of improvement plans, so the key to choosing an exploratory strategy in consultation is to make a trade-off between the two – if the professionalism and neutrality of the consultant takes precedence, there will be a preference for third-party exploration, and if it is preceded by winning people's commitment and action, there will be a preference for a system-wide approach. Here are some food for thought:
Third Parties:
They are neutral observers and have no stake in the answers to the questions.
It can provide a broader perspective, because I have seen many organizations and can provide a variety of solutions.
Possess specialized knowledge and skills that are not available within the organization.
The decision-making process is relatively simple, and managers have more control over their decisions.
Possess the credibility of outsiders.
System-wide:
The decision-making process leads to a higher level of commitment to implementation.
The person who makes the decision is the one who implements it.
Let more local knowledge be used because people are familiar with the context of the problem.
There is greater realism because people know what works and what works.
Keeping learning in the organizational system.
This technique of bringing a lot of people together, assessing the current situation, defining the future, and discussing action plans has many names. Because this method can bring hundreds of people together, it is often referred to as the "large group law". Other proponents will call it a "highly interactive approach" because of their focus on the participatory nature of the technology. There are also those who want to embrace all parties at the same time because they want to do so, so they call it "mass law". But the name doesn't really matter, as long as it expresses the intent of the system-wide approach.
The number of people who can be invited to participate in this way is mainly limited by the size of the venue, and the event usually lasts 2-3 days. Typically, a design team led by a consultant will plan the large group event, but this team will focus on the process rather than getting bogged down in the content of the problem or solution. They are responsible for issues such as who should be invited, what the focus should be, how to manage logistics, and how to set the stage for a successful meeting. There are some great books on how to do this, including Catherine. Kathleen Danne Miller, Marvin. Westbird and Sandra. Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff, Barbara. Bunker and Billy. Elbon (Barbra Bunker and Billie Alban), Dick. Exerrod and Emily. Dick Axelrod and Emily Axelrod, Harrison. Harrison Owen and Anita Ju. Juanita Brown, whose work is included in the "Further Reading" list at the end of the book.
What makes the SWP approach special is that it expresses the belief that people have the ability to identify their problems and find solutions. Therefore, the proposition of the system-wide exploratory process is that we don't need an external consultant or a specific internal team to tell us who we are and what the problem is. If we can build enough trust and be willing to be honest with each other, each unit in the organization already has the capacity to create the necessary change for itself.
February** Dynamic Incentive Program