I assume most are familiar with the parable of the boiled frog. Briefly, just to refresh your memory, a frog placed in a cool and comfortable body of water that is continually rising in temperature will not sense the incremental temperature change from the immediate past to present moment and remain in the water until [...]
Archive for the ‘Systems Thinking’ Category
What’s a Frog To Do?
Posted in Economy, Life, Systems Thinking, tagged Business of business, Change, Economy, Ethical Principles, Progress, Systems Thinking on January 8, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Better Questions Afford Better Solutions
Posted in Education, Quality, Systems Thinking, tagged Decision-making, Education, human spirit, Leadership, Problem Solving, Quality, Systems Thinking on December 2, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
There seems to be a debate over the use of standardized test results for accountability as the way to improve student achievement, and thus our education system. Effectually, this debate is turning attention away from understanding the concrete educational experience toward the abstract measures. No wonder teachers and children have to be incentivized to respectively [...]
The Gravity of Vision
Posted in Leadership, Relationships, Systems Thinking, tagged human spirit, Leadership, Moral Values, organizational design, relationships, Systems Thinking on October 26, 2011 | 3 Comments »
The Gravity of Vision In our universe what keeps things together? In a general sense what brings chaos to order? Gravity. For without it every person and thing would be cast into space, floating aimlessly, making for quite a chaotic existence. If not for gravity then nothing would be at rest on earth. Moreover this [...]
The Indignation of the Immune
Posted in Change, Economy, Life, Systems Thinking, tagged Change, Critical Thinking, Economy, human spirit, Moral Values, Progress, Systems Thinking on October 17, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
In a recent article by Paul Krugman spoke to the whining from the elite in Wall Street who believe that the good that they have done for society is not understood, claiming that “finance is the only thing America does well.” Not only is it telling of where we are as a society that [...]
Reformer Education
Posted in Education, Problem Solving, Quality, Systems Thinking, tagged Critical Thinking, Education, Learning, Problem Solving, Quality, Systems Thinking on October 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
A recent Huffington Post article describes the agreement and disagreement between Arne Duncan (Secretary of Education) and Dennis Van Roekel (President of National Teachers Association) over the preparation and evaluation of teachers respectively. Sadly what is not being discussed—as can be inferred from the article—is the very process of learning.
Act on Causes not Outcomes
Posted in Economy, Problem Solving, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Economy, Problem Solving, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, Variation on September 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Properly reporting and interpreting the movement in the monthly unemployment rate requires one to have an understanding of variation. Yes, while it may be a surprise to many, monthly outcomes do vary from month to month irrespective of whether there is an identifiable cause—you can call this random noise. There are also variation patterns that [...]
Mistaken Solution
Posted in Leadership, Management, organizational design, Problem Solving, Systems Thinking, tagged Decision-making, Leadership, Learning, management, organizational design, Quality, relationships, Systems Thinking on August 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
A story told by Jay Goltz to illustrate his strategy for learning from mistakes highlights common errors that many business managers and owners commit. Though Jay’s story takes place in one of his small businesses these errors are indeed common and committed regularly by managers in both small and large companies.
Reductionism Can Reduce Everything
Posted in Problem Solving, Systems Thinking, tagged Complexity, Decision-making, management, organizational design, Problem Solving, relationships, Systems Thinking on August 7, 2011 | 4 Comments »
What is reductionism? It is the theory and practice of solving problems by placing attention on its simpler constituent parts or components. In other words, solving problems of the whole—which can be quite complex—can be realized by attention to the most important constituent—the one cause or the one outcome—of the whole. Moreover this approach to [...]
Cheating Is No Surprise
Posted in Education, Management, Quality, Systems Thinking, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Leadership, management, Problem Solving, Quality, Systems Thinking on July 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Many will acknowledge that while we may not measure what’s important, the important thing becomes what we measure. Why? It keeps us exclusively focused on what in-practice we (often tacitly come to) value.
Bottom-Line on CEO Compensation
Posted in Management, Systems Thinking, tagged Critical Thinking, management, Quality, Systems Thinking on July 12, 2011 | 2 Comments »
In the business world results matter, especially the results that matters most to (that is benefits) ‘me’! And there are few in a better position to be self-serving than a CEO of a large corporation. In regards to top executive compensation life has been and continues to be good, and more importantly it looks as [...]
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