The best leaders see past the events

I’ve worked with many great leaders. The best ones that I have had the pleasure of working alongside all have one characteristic in common.

They can see the bigger picture when problems arise. They remain calm and work through the problem, knowing that the best solution will come with strategic thought, not raw emotion.

But this isn’t the natural reaction for most of us. In our daily lives, most people are more aware of the events going on in their life than on the underlying systems and structures.

In systems thinking, a common visual used to explain this versus linear thinking is to look at a picture of an iceberg. The iceberg floats in the water but 90% lies below the surface.

The tip of the iceberg that gets seen relates to the events in systems thinking. The events are the one-time occurrences. If we experience a problem where our employee just called off, we are seeing the event. Events make up linear thinking. We see events and miss the true depth of what we experience.

But below the surface lies most of the iceberg. In systems thinking we know that most of the problem lies unseen and can be seen by going deeper into the occurrences.

Just below the surface lies the patterns. The patterns give us more insight than the event. Our employee called off, but is it a pattern? Do they typically call off the Friday before a Monday holiday? Do they consistently call off when the workload increases? Maybe the pattern is that they are very reliable. But the pattern givers more insight into the event.

Below the patterns, lies the structures. There are structures in place that contribute to this event. Is there vacation time available or is the only way to get a day off to call off sick? Is there an attendance point system in place? Does this individual own an old car that seems to have many maintenance issues?

The structures start to give more clarity around why the event occurred. It can help us to see it from their perspective to see why it happened. It also gives us a look at what we might be able to change to get better outcomes.

Below the structures are the mental models. This is the deepest aspect of the system. There are beliefs that we all hold and cause us to create the structures which leads to the events.

If we believe everyone should be dedicated to the job regardless of how they are treated, we will feel different about call-offs than someone who feels that you should work hard enough to match what you are receiving in return. So, some will put 100% effort regardless of pay or promotions. Others will ramp up their work based on their salary.

If there are major disagreements in mental models, the system will be more complex than if everyone holds the same mental models. If you explore cultures across the world, you will see the mental models change. This turns into different events.

If you look at mass shootings, you can see this. Some cultures hold the freedom to own a gun as the most important aspect. Some feel that restricting the ability to own a gun results in a better society. But these are ingrained mental models, not likely to change easily.

Cultures with alignment in their view of members of society owning guns will likely have structures in place to prevent or support these from happening. We can see it in the patterns. Are there recurring events that point to this difference in mental models across a culture?

The best leaders can see this bigger picture. They are able to take information from an event and explore the full system. They can find ways to improve the system. They can change the structures.

In the mass shooting example, they can look at the structures and find leverage points. This could be through political action. But more often those mental models will prevent that type of change. That becomes a reverse leverage point. Instead of being a point to gain leverage, we lose it. It is like trying to get somewhere and pointing to the single brick wall in the middle of the field to focus.

Are there other structures that could be explored? This becomes less obvious to most. They become obsessed with the brick wall that shouldn’t be standing in a field, rather than working around it to a solution.

It isn’t that they are wrong, but the system is very resilient. If we want employees to be more reliable, we can address it any number of ways. Linear thinkers tend to focus on the individual event and punishment. They focus on retribution, not correction.

The best leaders will see this and look at the structures. What can they adjust to get better results? They don’t just isolate this individual and this event, they look at the patterns. How can they do a better job putting in place structures that result in people being at work more regularly?

Years ago, I was meeting up with a friend for lunch. He was telling me that he was going to call off the next day saying he was sick. Not being the type to call of sick, I was surprised so I asked him why?

He explained that they have a PTO (Paid Time Off) system, but they block out certain dates to avoid people being off. He said he can’t request PTO in advance, but they will give him PTO if he is sick.

They also have a point system in place. He said it won’t matter to him because his points reset at the end of the month. Any points he receives will be wiped away.

This is a great example to see the systems in place. If the goal is to have less call-offs because of the last-minute strain it puts on the operations, these structures do the opposite. They reinforce and provide benefit to those that call off.

At a company where I previously worked, we didn’t block out dates. But we did have a structure that said if you call off sick right before or after a holiday, you won’t get paid for that holiday.

This meant that people who planned ahead could have the day off. People that didn’t plan ahead would lose holiday pay if they were absent. This structure reinforced the event we wanted. We could plan for those that planned PTO and have much less disruption right before a holiday (which was disruptive to the operations by itself).

Systems thinking is common in business. The best leaders employ it. They use it to help make better decisions. But we can take this same thinking and apply the systems thinking iceberg to help areas of our personal life as well.

Seeing the full system is valuable. It helps us continue to improve. We can rely on system changes that provide better outcomes.