Promoting
g Collaborative
Systems Thinking Through the
Alignment of Culture
and Process:
The Lean Link
Presenting Author:
Caroline Twomey Lamb
Doctoral Research Assistant
Massachusetts Institute
of Technology
cmtwomey@mit.edu
Research Advisor:
Donna H. Rhodes
Senior Lecturer
Massachusetts Institute
of Technology
rhodes@mit.edu
LAI Plenary: April 18, 2007
Enterprise Transformation: Closing the Gap between Knowledge and Implementation
Agenda
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Motivation
Research Framework
K Constructs
Key
C
t t
Objectives
Research Methods
Current Progress
Next Steps
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Slide 2 of 14
Motivation
• Aging demographics within engineering
– Average age of engineer within US = 45 (NA Report, 2006)
– Average age of engineer at NASA = 49 (Lemos, 2006)
• Increasing system complexity and development
time (Murman
(Murman, et
et.al,
al 2002)
– 48 military aircraft program starts in 1950’s
– 7 program starts in 1990’s
• Systems thinkers able to better cope with
complexity
• Experiential learning best for systems thinking
development (Davidz
(Davidz, 2006)
• Process certification increasingly contractually
required
• Team is the primary working unit
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Slide 3 of 14
Research Framework
• 3 key concepts
– Standardized process
– Culture
– Systems thinking
Collaborative
Systems
Thinking
• Within
Withi tteams off engineers
i
• Collaborative systems thinking
• Desire to explore
construct interactions
Culture
• Identify enablers and barriers
to collaborative systems thinking
• Borrowing ideas from lean thinking
Standardized
S
d di d
Process
– Teamwork
– Standardization
– Recognition of individual,
individual not just process
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Slide 4 of 14
Standardized Process
Process: a logical
g
sequence
q
of tasks performed
p
to achieve
some objective. Process defines what is to be done without
specifying how it is to be done.
--James Martin, 1997
• Codify best practices and facilitate effective
coordination and communication.
• Drive interactions within teams and between teams
• Reduce ambiguity and unpredictability (Schein,
2004)
• TPS based on strict standardization
• Process alone insufficient to guarantee success in
product development (Dougherty, 1990; Spear and
Bowen,, 1999))
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Slide 5 of 14
Culture
Culture: a dynamic
y
p
phenomenon and a set of structures,,
routines, and norms that guide and constraint behavior.
--Edgar Schein, 2004
•
Components of culture
– Norms of behavior
– Espoused beliefs
f
– Basic underlying assumptions
•
•
•
Effective team norms do not evolve naturally and
must be fostered (Hackman, 2002)
Team norms constitute unwritten set of standardized
processes
Culture a differentiator between successful and
unsuccessful organizations
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Slide 6 of 14
Systems Thinking
Systems
y
thinking:
g the analysis,
y , synthesis,
y
, and understanding
g
of interconnections, interactions, and interdependencies that
are technical, social, temporal, and multi-level.
--Heidi Davidz, 2006
•
•
Experientially developed skill that facilitates system
design (Davidz, 2006)
– Improved
I
d ability
bilit d
do h
handle
dl complexity
l it
– Saves development time
– May promote process optimization
Evaluating systems thinking of group more important
than individual
– Teams design systems
– Teams responsible for managing and maintaining
systems
t
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Slide 7 of 14
Collaborative Systems Thinking
Collaborative systems thinking: systems thinking as a property
of an engineering team or organization.
• Term coined to refer to higher-level systems
thinking in engineering contexts
• Systems thinking likely linked to context
– Necessitates looking at team and organizational
levels
• H
How might
i ht collaborative
ll b
ti systems
t
thinking
thi ki
differ
diff
from individual systems thinking?
– Teams and organizations produce products
– Borrow ideas of value and efficiency from lean thinking
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Slide 8 of 14
Research Objectives
• Operational
p
definition of collaborative
systems thinking (CST)
• Identify enablers and barriers to CST
– Standardized process
– Culture
• Explain how CST develops
• Identify best practices,
heuristics for aligning culture
and process
– Ways to tailor process
– Feedback mechanisms
– Best
B t practices
ti
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Slide 9 of 14
The Lean Link
• Lean as way to link culture and
process
• Recognizes importance of teams and
people, not just processes
Culture
• Concepts
C
t off value
l and
d
efficiency
• Continual improvement
fits model
Standard Process
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Slide 10 of 14
Research Methods
•
Grounded theory based research
– Ch
Characterized
t i db
by concurrentt and
d
systematic data collection, analysis,
and theory development (Glaser
and Strauss, 1967)
•
Pilot interviews
inter ie s
– Identify and define key concepts
•
Secondary case study analysis
– Identify linkages between concepts
– Drive interview and survey
questions development
•
Case α
Case studies
–
–
–
–
Interviews
Primary document
Focus groups (simulations)
Surveys
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Case β
Case γ
Case δ
Depth
Breadth
Case ε
Case ζ
Slide 11 of 14
Progress to Date
• Wrapping
pp g up
pp
pilot
interviews
• Completing secondary
case study analysis
• Depth case study
selected
– Collecting background
information
– Will collect team-based
d
data
starting
i A
April/May
il/M
• Breadth case studies
still to be identified
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Pilot
Interviews
Secondary
S
d
Case Study
Analysis
Depth Case
Study
Breadth Case
Studies
Slide 12 of 14
Secondaryy Case Studyy Analysis
y
•
Based on 12+ cases published through AIAA, IEEE and LAI
looking at ‘non
non-technical
technical’ aspects of complex product design
Collaborative
Systems
Thinking*
Outside
Reviews
Shared
Mental
Models
Product
Management /
Organization
Knowledge
Sharing
g
Debate
and
Discussion
Good
Processes
Successful teams
are intrinsically
rewarding—the
loop is reinforcing
Real
Involvement
Team
Empowerment
* Successful, multidisciplinary teams demonstrating meaningful exchanges of information were used a proxy for CST
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Slide 13 of 14
Secondaryy Case Studyy Analysis
y
•
General Observations
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
•
ENABLERS
–
–
–
–
–
–
•
Systems thinking enables change
Team design important (selecting correct people)
Richness and completeness of communication important
Must allow and expect participation from all team members (real involvement)
Team membership improves knowledge and skill of participants
Communication must serve the problem
Well designed processes empower the user
LEADERSHIP
Identification with product enabler
Empowerment—freedom and ability to make meaningful decisions
Real and meaningful responsibility
Separating ideas from individuals—allowing for debate and critical analysis
Articulating team norms (beyond SP)
BARRIERS
–
–
–
–
–
Complexity of product is a barrier to change in methods
Identification with function is barrier
Hero-based culture a barrier
Visionary leader encapsulating tacit knowledge of project
Failure to align team involvement with career advancement
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Slide 14 of 14
Pilot Interview Analysis
•
Defining Collaborative Systems Thinking (CST)
– Teams deliver completed products
– CST should include idea of delivering product/value
•
•
Strong agreement that standardized process an enabler of CST
Culture can be either an enabler or barrier
– Enablers
• Willing to ask and answer questions
• Identifying with product (startups, black programs)
– Barriers
•
•
•
•
•
‘Hero’
Hero culture
Failure to consider social dimensions when forming teams
Identifying with function
Resistance to change
Leadership
p is key
y component
p
of CST
– Leader with systems thinking capabilities
– Leader working closely with systems thinkers on team
•
Standards and conventions may play even larger role than
standard
sta
da d process
p ocess (cu
(culture-process
tu e p ocess boundary)
bou da y)
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Slide 15 of 14
Next Steps
• Next steps
Culture
– Identify ‘breadth’
case studies
– Design survey and
interview for case
studies
Unarticulated
team norms
Espoused
beliefs
Underlying
assumptions
Social networks
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Standardized
Process
Documented tasks
and methods
Vision
statements
Strategy for
standardization
Process flow
maps, org-charts
Slide 16 of 14
Selected References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Davidz, Heidi, Enabling Systems Thinking to Accelerate the Development of
Senior Systems Engineers, Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 2006.
Dougherty, Deborah, “Understanding New Markets for New Products”,
Strategic Management Journal, 11, 1990, pp 59-78.
Glaser, B., and Strauss, A., The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Aldine
Publishing Company
Company, Chicago
Chicago, IL
IL, 1967
1967.
Hackman, J. Richard, Leading Teams. Harvard Business School Press,
Boston, MA, 2002.
Lemos, Robert, “NASA Fights Premature Graying”, Wired News,
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/space/0,71822-0.html, (Accessed
December 2006)
December,
2006).
Martin, James, Systems Engineering Guidebook. CRC Press, Boca Raton,
FL, 1997.
Murman, E., et.al., Lean Enterprise Value. Palgrave, New York, NY, 2002.
Roberts, C. and Kleiner, A., Five Kinds of Systems Thinking, The Dance of
Ch
Change,
D bl D
Double-Day,
N
New Y
York,
k NY
NY, 1999
1999, pp 13
137-148.
148
Schein, Edgar, Organizational Culture and Leadership. Jossey-Bass, San
Francisco, CA, 2004.
Spear, S. and Bowen, H.K., “Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production
y
, Harvard Business Review,, Sept-Oct,
p
, 1999,, pp 96-106.
System”,
LAI Plenary: Enterprise Transformation, April 18, 2007
Caroline Twomey Lamb ©
Slide 17 of 14