Fix What Bugs You With Systems Thinking

Welcome to my Lean, Visual Workplace and Systems Thinking blog. My name is Rodney Robbins. I'm a long time quality manager and a big fan of FIXING WHAT BUGS YOU. Things that don't work right drive me nutty! I hate it when things that are supposed to work, don't.

• Didn't anyone think this through before they started? 
• Didn't anyone check on it to see if it was working right? 
• Doesn't anyone care how very, very unhappy the customer is about the delays and defects? 

The short answer is, no. The longer answer is, probably not in ages.

Hey, we are all busy. We all wear too many hats. We all have day jobs, night jobs, family work, home work, yard work and, of course, our daily cooking, cleaning and chauffeuring to do. What is hard to notice, but oh so cool when you do, is what is not working. What is not working is your guide to a better life. We need to learn to embrace those things. Love them. They are great big fat signals saying, "Fix me. Fix ME! If you will only fix me, your life will have less stress, you'll have more time, things will run smoother. Please, I'm the nail sticking my head up. Please, hit me with a hammer now!"

So, as you notice what bugs you, consider how everything works together As A System. Stop. Take a step back, and think about how things and information flow into the process, get changed and flow out. Dishes pile up all over the kitchen table and counters. Dishes get dumped into hot, soapy water. Dishes go onto racks, then into cupboards. Which one of those steps is the worst nightmare? How do the steps, er, piles interact? Is there ANYTHING we could do about ANY of these stages?

If you want things to get better, noticing what bugs you is the first step. A good next step is to stop, step back and wonder how everything interacts. That may be all you need to do to get started making things better.