Introduction
A few days before our Masterclass on Systemic Thinking and Performance Improvement we had the chance to sit down with one of our guests, Dr. Ligia Cremene, a systemic organizational consultant and leadership coach with an academic background in engineering and interdisciplinary research.
TEE: How would you define systems thinking?
Ligia: Systems Thinking is a lens, a way of looking at the world around us, at the interconnectedness of things. It helps us to better understand the systems we are part of, to improve our decisions and quality of life. It is a tool for managing complexity in every field of human existence. The systemic perspective adds to all the other ways of looking at a business, organization, community, or the world as a whole: legal, financial, business, psychological, operational, managerial, strategic and developmental.
TEE: Which are the Systemic Leadership Skills connecting us to the future?
Ligia: There are many but I have assembled a list, not by far exhaustive, of 12 intertwined systemic leadership skills to which many nuances and concepts may be added. They are as follows:
● Self-awareness
● Emotional and mental flexibility
● Listening and holding space
● Role modelling
● Integrative complexity
● Dilemma wizarding
● Systems Thinking. Discernment
● Zooming in, zooming out
● Humbleness. Navigating uncertainty. Facilitation
● Design Thinking and Multi-disciplinarity
● Tapping into collective intelligence
● Orchestrating communication flows
I talk about these skills in more detail in my contributed chapter to Andrew Taylor’s book Leadership for a Green World, ”Complex Systems Literacy. Social dilemmas – the setup for managerial decision making in a complex world”.
TEE: How can we apply Systemic Leadership?
Ligia: First by zooming out, then zooming in, and zooming out and zooming in, in a flexible way. Local actions produce global outcomes. When making decisions, we need to be aware of the interconnectedness of business, society, and environment. Today's rate of change is at a faster pace than ever before. We are faced with the same value creation challenges and opportunities today as 100 years ago, but faster. Electricity, steam engine, AI are the same thing in many ways, if we are looking at their disruptive potential, but everything moves faster. We can no longer ignore, or escape, the consequences of our actions on a global level. In a world where we end up producing results nobody wants (yet we all contribute to them) we need new ways of thinking, acting and leading. Systemic Leadership can be applied in any field. Systems Thinking is no longer optional for managers and decision makers in a complex, highly-interconnected world, yet it is an essential leadership tool and competence.
TEE: How can systems thinking raise the performance of an organization?
Ligia: Systems Thinking manages complexity and thus brings clarity. It saves time, money, and resources. Systems talk to us through symptoms. For instance, organizational symptoms such as: disengagement, quiet quitting, burnout, delays, low performance, conflicts, etc. When something goes wrong, we usually blame managers. Or the market. In a very practical way, where no obvious cause and effect connection can be identified (or is misidentified), we look at the undercurrents of organizational behavior and help unlock blocked potential, optimize resources, decisions, and results. Systems Thinking helps build organizational health and fitness.
Conclusion
In our interview with Ligia, the significance of systems thinking emerges as a guiding principle for navigating the intricacies of the modern world. The lens of systems thinking offers a holistic view, connecting diverse aspects of business, society, and the environment.
As Ligia eloquently articulates, systemic leadership skills serve as a compass for the future, emphasizing qualities like self-awareness, integrative complexity, and the ability to navigate uncertainty.
The practical application of systems thinking becomes evident as a powerful tool for enhancing organizational performance, decoding symptoms, and fostering health and fitness within the complex fabric of today's interconnected world.
Dr. Ligia Cremene is a systemic organizational consultant and leadership coach with an academic background in engineering and interdisciplinary research. What summarizes her professional experience is systems thinking and managing complexity – both in technology and in human systems. As a systemic consultant, transformation facilitator, and coach (4500+ hours) she joins people in exploring system dynamics at multiple levels: individual, group, organization, and society. Thus, she helps create the space-time context for individuals, teams, and organizations to rediscover and reinvent themselves.