Systems Thinking for Management Consultants: Introducing Holistic Flexibility

540 Pages·2019·7.722 MB·English

by  Rajneesh Chowdhury

Flexible Systems Management
Rajneesh Chowdhury
Systems
Thinking for
Management
Consultants
Introducing Holistic Flexibility
Foreword by
Professor Michael C. Jackson OBE
Flexible Systems Management
Series Editor
Sushil
Department of Management Studies
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
New Delhi
India
Editorial Board
Gerhard Chroust, Institute for Telekooperation, Johannes Kepler University Linz,
Austria
Julia Connell, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Stuart Evans, Integrated Innovation Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Takao Fujiwara, Toyohashi University of Technology, Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan
Mike C. Jackson OBE, University of Hull, UK
Rashmi Jain, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA
Ramaraj Palanisamy, St.Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS, Canada
Edward A. Stohr, Stevens Institute of Technology, NJ, USA
ThemainobjectiveofthisseriesonFlexibleSystemsManagementistoprovidearich
collectionofresearchaswellaspracticebasedcontributions,fromdifferentcontexts,
thatcanserveasreferencematerialinthisupcomingarea.Someofthesebookswillbe
publishedinassociationwith‘GlobalInstituteofFlexibleSystemsManagement’.
It will help in cross-fertilizing ideas from different perspectives offlexibility so
as to consolidate and enrich the paradigm of flexible systems management. The
audience for the volumes under this series includes researchers, management
students/teachers, and practitioners interested in exploring various facets of
flexibility research and practice.
The series features five types of books:
(cid:129) Postconferencevolumescontainingpeerreviewedhighqualityresearchpapers
around a theme and clustered in sub-themes that can act as good reference
material.
(cid:129) Contributed thematic volumes based on invited papers from leading profes-
sionals,fromacademiaaswellpracticingworld,containingstateoftheartonan
emerging theme.
(cid:129) Research monographs based on research work making a comprehensive con-
tribution to the body of knowledge.
(cid:129) Books based on novel frameworks and methodologies covering new develop-
mentsthatarewelltestedandreadyforwiderapplicationinresearchaswellas
practice.
(cid:129) Business practices and case based books documenting flexibility practices,
strategies, and systems in real life organizations.
The series covers multiple perspectives of flexible systems management; some
leading ones, inter alia, are:
(cid:129) Holistic management of organizational paradoxes with systemic flexibility:
including various connotations such as ambidexterity, adaptability, responsive-
ness, openness,customization,localization, agility,vitality, sustainability,etc.
(cid:129) Business agility infused by new information and communication technologies:
including volatile and virtual business, developments in information and com-
munication technologies generating IT agility such as cloud computing, social
networking, knowledge based systems, search technologies, mobile transac-
tions, business continuity, disaster recovery, etc.
(cid:129) Managing innovation, strategic change and risk: including strategic change,
confluence of continuity and change, strategic flexibility, strategy execution,
innovation in products/services, processes, management practices, and strate-
gies, business dynamics, business uncertainty and associated risk, etc.
(cid:129) Flexibility in various operations for achieving business excellence: including
organizational flexibility, financial flexibility, manufacturing flexibility, infor-
mation systems flexibility, marketing flexibility, operational and supply chain
flexibility, technology management flexibility, flexibility in business
excellence/maturity models, etc.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10780
Rajneesh Chowdhury
Systems Thinking
for Management Consultants
Introducing Holistic Flexibility
123
Rajneesh Chowdhury
NewDelhi, India
ISSN 2199-8493 ISSN 2199-8507 (electronic)
Flexible Systems Management
ISBN978-981-13-8529-2 ISBN978-981-13-8530-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8530-8
©SpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.2019
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
orinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar
methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfrom
therelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained
hereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregard
tojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations.
ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721,
Singapore
Dedicated to
My Parents…
Ranjana and Banajit Chowdhury
Foreword
Rajneesh Chowdhury’s book Systems Thinking for Management Consultants is a
significantadditiontotheliteratureon“systemsthinking”,particularly becausethe
ideas it espouses are grounded on practical project work. They have emerged as a
result of reflection upon 15 years of personal experience undertaking management
researchandconsultinginIndia andtheUK.Theseengagementshaveembraceda
wide variety of organisations in private industry, public health, professional ser-
vices and the charitable sector.
Throughconsiderationofanumberofextendedcasestudies,Rajneesharrivesat
the key concept of “holistic flexibility” which he sees as underpinning effective
decision-making in today’s complex world. Being “holistic” means developing a
systems “state of mind” which enables the practitioner to chart interrelationships,
recognise emergence and work with and challenge different mental models
reflecting alternative boundary judgements. “Flexibility” in an intervention means
stayingnimbleandadaptiveinthefaceofconstantchange.Aconsultantmusthave
the capacity to think flexibly; marshal a range of approaches and tools (e.g. the
Viable SystemModel,InteractivePlanning,SoftSystems Methodology);usethem
in a complementary fashion; and access a variety of resources in support of the
intervention.Thisconceptofholisticflexibilityisdiscussedinthecontextofstudies
on social impact, organisation development and reputation management.
On the basis of the learning gained from employing holistic flexibility, he
develops and advocates the notion of “responsible outcomes” for systems consul-
tants.Suchaprofessionalstandardrequiresconsultantstoaskquestionsaboutwhat
are the right thingsto do in a set of circumstances, as well as what might make an
organisationmoreefficientandeffective.Focusingonresponsibleoutcomesaddsto
the normal duties of consultants the need to pay attention to creating systemic
benefits for all stakeholders, foster emancipation and seek sustainable solutions.
HelearnedhissystemsthinkingattheCentreforSystemsStudies,Universityof
Hull,UK,ofwhichIwasFoundingDirector.Iamhappytoendorsethisbookasa
fineexampleofthe“criticalsystemsthinking”(CST)approachdevelopedatHull.It
asks why certain systems approaches work in some situations and not in others. It
encourages the construction of multimethodologies capable of dealing with the
vii
viii Foreword
complexity of modern-day problem situations. And it includes ethical considera-
tions in contemplating the nature of the improvements it seeks to bring about. In
putting CST to work in original ways, in the practical context of management
consulting, the book provides an important example of the new wave of “critical
systems practice” which is now coming to the fore.
Kingston-Upon-Hull, UK Michael C. Jackson (Order of the British Empire)
May 2019 Professor Emeritus, University of Hull
Preface
This book is a narrative of my experiences and experimentations with systems
thinking traversed over 15 years between 2003 and 2018.
I read systems thinking at the Centre for Systems Studies, University of Hull,
UK, after my higher education in sociology at the Centre for the Study of Social
Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. Looking back, I have always found
theuseoftheterm“systems”inthenamesofboththecentresofhighereducationI
went to an uncanny (I am using the word to imply mysterious) coincidence.
Sociologyandsystemsthinkingwasapotentcombinationformetoappreciatethat
socialstructuresaretheheartofeverythingwegothroughasalived-inexperience
and that social structures are pinned on inherent seen and unseen interconnections
that exist between people, society and the ecosystem that give rise to emergent
behaviour of the system itself.
During my postgraduate education between 2000 and 2003, I had picked up
several projects that exposed me to complex settings where there were numerous
missing links and unexplained observations. My first project was to study the
worldviews of underprivileged students in a government primary school in New
Delhi, India. This was an on-ground qualitative project where I shared the space
withstudents,theirparentsandtheirteachersaspartoftheireverydayengagements
—in the classroom, staffroom, playground and morning prayers, and before and
after school. The second one was to understand public access and grievance
redressal in the Indian Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in New Delhi. This was a
participatory researchprojectwhereItook therole ofacovertparticipantobserver
to understand interactions, access and engagements in the natural settings in dif-
ferentofficesof theIndianPMO.Thethirdwastounderstandthestateofeconomic
health and business forecasting for the tea industry in Assam (a state in the
north-east of India). This involved an analytical approach where I relied on sec-
ondary research and applied system dynamics for business forecasting. The final
projectwasabusinessplanningexercisewithoneoftheforemostconstructionand
infrastructure companies in the Yorkshire region in the UK. This was an action
researchprojectwhereIspenttimewiththeseniormanagementofthecompanyand
ix
x Preface
worked directly on live projects involving planning, forecasting and management
reviews with an aim to make a positive contribution to the business.
Theseprojectsofferedmeexposuretoavarietyofsectorsandsettingsthatwere
quite different from one another in terms of context, complexity, geography and
resource availability. As a student, although I had to use a rigorous research
methodologyandasystematicapproachintheproblemstructuring,Irealisedthatin
each of these social settings (I call these institutions—education, business and
government—socialsettings)systemicbehaviourswerenotasummationofmerely
theevidentinformationcollectedfromthefield,buttherewasmoretoit!Therewas
an extent to which logic could explain certain decisions and outcomes in the
system, but many of the outcomes were unexplained and emergent as if from a
“blackbox”.Asastudent,IobservedpatternsthatemergedthatI couldnotexplain
by rational arguments.
Forinstance,incaseofthefirstprojectwiththegovernmentprimaryschool,the
institution catered to underprivileged children coming from backgrounds that were
financially challenged. When I interviewed the children and their parents together,
theywouldtalkaboutthehardshipstheyfacedgoingthroughtheeducationprocess
within their resource constraints. However, when I met the children as a group
without their parents, the sense I got was more of optimism and positivity. They
wouldtalkabouttheirambitionsofenteringaprofessionalcareerandtheirdreams
included thinking of themselves as doctors, engineers, teachers or pilots. The
backgroundthatthechildrencamefromandwhattheywouldwanttoachievehada
gap,buttheydidbelievethattheirambitionswerepossible.Thechildrenwouldnot
talk of challenges towards achieving their dreams, unless they were with their
parentsduringtheinterview.Thechildren’sbehaviourandresponseschangedfrom
onesettingtotheother.Behaviouritselfdoesnotforminisolation.Itisanoutcome
ofacomplexinterplayofinfluences,baggage andmeaning. Often theseinfluences
change from setting to setting depending on who is or is not present in those
settings, as in the case of this research. As a student, this was a fascinating
observation to me, which I later understood as vicious cycles and emergent beha-
viours of a social setting, in anthropological parlance.
The second project with the Indian PMO was an eye-opener to me. From a
structurepointofview,theinstitutionwasextremelywelllaidoutforpublicaccess
and grievance redressal. However, the on-ground reality presented machinery that
was opaque, inaccessible, intimidating and purpose defeating. Numerous people, I
interviewed, noted that their plea for help when they were at distress turned out to
be more distressful as a result of their interaction with PMO due to the derogatory
treatmentmetedout tothem bysome oftheofficials.As part of thethirty in-depth
interviewsIcarriedoutatthattime,IheardstoriesofpeoplefromallpartsofIndia
whohadapproachedthepublicwingofPMOseekingsupport,buttheresolutionof
issues was a far cry for all. They were trapped in a never-ending web of bureau-
cracy and red tape with no light at the end of the tunnel. Although the structure of
public access and grievance redressal at PMO was created with a certain purpose,
the lived-in experience was very different and in fact anecdotal. At the end, it was