Barry Oshry, a systems theorist, has noted that our efforts both to diagnose and intervene in organisations have a “persistent bias”: we interpret things from a personal perspective. He notes that the leadership capacity of seeing the systemic contexts in which people operate is “missing”: “When we don’t see systems, we see individual personalities. Our explanations are personal, and our solutions are personal. Fix the individual.” This prevailing view in organisations has many limitations. Article by Ed Rowland, Founder and Partner of The Whole Partnership, a Director of the Centre for Systemic Constellations (CSC).
It encourages a view of performance, behaviour and even creativity as residing in the individual (rather than also in relationships or systemic patterns), making us more likely to blame others, take things personally or fight for our corner. Systemic Coaching and Constellations work has emerged over the last 20 years as a powerful, awareness-based approach to seeing and transforming challenges in our organisational and professional lives. By creating maps of the whole system, it enables the hidden dynamics of even seemingly intractable situations to be illuminated – and often resolved – quickly and effectively. During these volatile and uncertain times, the systems perspective of this work – as well as the method – will benefit HR professionals, leaders and change agents who want to open up the systemic intelligence and co-creative potential that is already there in leaders and teams.
Much of leadership development focuses on the individual. We tend to think that we can solve many problems just by building new skills or instilling different behaviours. Whilst it is important to take responsibility for one’s own actions and impact, we have found that there is a limit to what can be achieved by working in this way. All of us live within a web of relationships. Everything we do is shaped by relationships and systemic forces, whether we acknowledge this dimension of reality or not. Our body is a system; we are born into a family system; we join and leave other systems from school onwards and in the world of work. Our businesses survive and thrive because of their dependence on a wider ecosystem of customers and suppliers, as well as the planet herself.
The systems of which we are part pull on us with powerful force. All of us are deeply influenced by our sense of belonging in various groups. We ask ourselves, do we really belong here? How do we balance the loyalties of our belonging to different groups? In our work systems, we might ask, what is each person’s role or right place? What tensions does this create in each person and in the team? In systemic coaching and consulting, these are the dynamics that we learn to notice, model, navigate and align.
There are five important features of human systems – and our understanding of them can expand what we see, how we intervene and the impact we have. A system (the whole) is different to – and behaves differently to – the sum of the parts. Human systems are living ‘organisms’ that behave differently to the sum of the parts. As a simple example, a team made up of stellar individuals might function very poorly collectively. A change in the composition of the team can mean that the team suddenly starts behaving and functioning very differently. At the same time, the health of the individual part is strongly influenced by, and influences, the health of the whole system. Indeed, since systems – such as teams – are always part of a larger system, they can often act as ‘symptom-bearers’ for that larger system. As an example, we often see that leaders and teams carry difficult patterns that belong to the whole system, as they are not being fully addressed by the leaders above them. Without a systemic understanding, leaders and HR professionals are often at a loss about how to deal with these stuck patterns.
There is a hidden architecture governing the dynamics in human systems, which if respected and attuned to, supports the whole system. Organisations are subject to an invisible ‘architecture’ of systemic ordering forces that powerfully influence the dynamics arising in them, both positively and negatively. These forces – to do with belonging, exchange and place – both ensure the survival of the individual and safeguard the system itself. If organisations attune to this architecture, there is a basic alignment in which all members of a system feel at ease – leading to a flow of leadership, trust and purposeful action. (See our publications if you’re interested in this extensive subject).
Problems are solutions in progress, from a systemic perspective. Another key insight of the systemic approach is that problematic patterns are typically reactions to something that happened, and the attempt of the system to find a solution. Given that systems have a natural tendency to move towards balance, the question we ask ourselves as systemic practitioners is: “For what phenomenon is this problem or pattern a solution?” For example, a Board might have trouble filling a senior position even by well-qualified candidates. The real issue might be that a prior incumbent had been mistreated, disrespected or excluded from institutional memory but this has not been fully acknowledged or dealt with. The person’s successor might find that through unconscious identification with the prior incumbent – they are also expelled from this “ejector seat” role. At a deeper level, the system is seeking a solution by calling for recognition of the earlier incumbent. However, the system’s ‘solution’ appears as a ‘problem’ for the current leadership team – and unhappy successors – until the core systemic issue is resolved. Change begins with agreeing to reality as it is. Another principle is that trying to suppress, minimise or even get rid of problems typically keeps them around. This often leads to resistance to change or unintended consequences elsewhere in the system. By contrast, identifying and acknowledging ’what is’ is a crucial first step in bringing ease to a system. In a leadership team this might mean, for example, acknowledging cynicism about making positive changes. Unacknowledged and explored resistance halts progress in its tracks.
Successful intervening in systems requires an awareness-based, phenomenological approach and not just an analytic one, which focuses on details. After decades of organisational and leadership development initiatives in his own businesses, Bill O’Brien, the late CEO of Hanover Insurance, wrote that: “The success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervener”. The Theory U movement, developed by Otto Scharmer at MIT, has called this lack of attention to our interiority and presence, the ‘blind spot’ of leadership and change. Using our embodied presence is a critical skill in working systemically. We learn that knowledge about systems can be accessed not just through the mind but directly in the body, our feelings and intuition (‘Whole Self’). This expanded awareness enables us to ‘zoom back’ and take a birds-eye view so that we can see – and listen for – what the system overall might be trying to tell us (‘Whole System’.)
With these systemic principles in mind, it is possible to map complex systems in surprisingly simple ways. Spatially arranging objects to stand for elements in a system, for example team members, competitors and even market forces, creates powerful windows into the system. These insights can then be used to disentangle problematic relationships and carve out new pathways for moving forwards. A systemic stance is often more inclusive than other approaches to change management. By people looking together at the context in which they are working, greater insights into how the system is working emerge, freeing up trapped energy – and creative ideas – and generating a stronger commitment to bring these ideas to life in day-to-day work.
When people ignore – or simply cannot see – systemic influences, they often feel pressures and tensions that they cannot explain. These invisible, yet potent, forces drive behaviour, and often block plans and strategies in ways that seem mysterious or inexplicable. On the other hand, when the systemic context is engaged with skillfully, we gain deeper insight into “What Is?”, and many unexpected, creative possibilities about “What Could Be?” emerge. With systemic support and training, leaders, coaches and HR professionals can learn to navigate previously unseen pathways with skill and elegance. This opens the way to unexpected breakthroughs, unlocks collective intelligence and aligns people with the inherent wisdom of the system – and the creative flow of life – itself.
