Here’s a video from Peter Senge, Senior Lecturer MIT and author of The Fifth Discipline on “Navigating Webs of Interdependence”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOPfVVMCwYg (5:16) [IBM, posted 13-Sep-2011].
In the video Senge explores interdependence through the lens of systems thinking. A word of caution, systems thinking is not expertise in computer systems or how we work in management systems. Instead, experiencing the consequences of how people act and how people feel both independently and interdependently helps us understand the webs we navigate. These consequences may be unintended. Senge notes that the unintended consequences can only be solved by a commitment to real learning. This means that we need to be prepared to be wrong and to be challenged by others who see things differently. Doing this may take time and commitment to develop, adopt and apply alternate approaches and behaviours. This is being smart in a social context. For us, this is part of organisational governance, organisational change management, stakeholder engagement and risk management.
Some things to consider:
Balance the short term and the long term. What we can give up in the short term to cement a long term benefit
Engage the collective intelligence. Bringing people together to discuss: agree, disagree and come to a reasoned way forward
Wellbeing is wider than people. Acknowledging that people sit within a context of social, ecological and economic wellbeing
What unintended consequences are you grappling with? What is your contribution? What social web can you navigate to work on resolving these? What cultural norms need to be considered / challenged?
How does this thinking apply to you as a Project Manager? What are your teams delivering that may not show immediate value? Who is challenging you? What are you learning from this challenge? What unintended consequences have occurred? How are you shaping your initiatives to accommodate these consequences?
Why is this important? Good question. If we think of ourselves as being independent then we rob ourselves of the opportunity to engage with others / to engage in other contexts. These opportunities form the web that both nurtures and challenges us. Without this interdependent web we can’t navigate being wrong, learning and celebrating difference. Perhaps this is the core reason to be smart in a social context.
For further reading:
A great introduction to “Systems Thinking: A Little Film About a Big Idea”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sfiReUu3o0 (11:55) [Cabrera Research Lab, 26-Jun-2015]
A good article to practice taking a smart in a social context view on: Killing for Coffee, The villains behind a hot drink Book review of “Coffeeland,” Augustine Sedgewick, www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/coffeeland-augustine-sedgewick-review-judith-hawley(1,500 words) [Judith Hawley, The Times Literary Supplement, 22-May-2020]
A podcast on “Systems Thinking & The Illusion of Cause and Effect”, https://youtube.com/watch?v=atZ3RGag7WE (51:40)[Personalityhacker.com, 15-Nov-2017]
A solid overview of Systems Thinking https://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/SystemsThinking.htm [Thwink.org]
Inviting you to have a view / read and to have a chat with me about your thoughts.
[Originally posted internally in my role as Project Management Practice Lead at The Warehouse Group.]