The Focused Manager: Elevate Your Impact

To get started, consider these four areas of systems: Personal, Technical, Operational, and Complex.

Personal systems. These are a person’s habits, routines, and personal workflows. The maturity of one’s personal systems impacts their work-life balance, resiliency, and capacity to take on more. Personal systems also influence how well people interact and collaborate. When personal systems become codified, others can adopt them and make them their own. In this way, developing personal systems is a path to scaling one’s influence.

Technical systems. These are the websites, applications, and software people use to complete their work. For example, the HR system used to complete a timecard or make a vacation request or the accounting system used for expense reports. Technical systems are part of personal, operational, and complex systems. However, they merit a distinct category because they are omnipresent and fundamental to work. To be successful, managers must know the features and capabilities of the technical systems they use.

Operational systems. If the technical system is the tool, the operational system is how it is used. These systems are how things get done in the organization. They are documented as SOPs, department handbooks, and instructions, and they are also evident in the team’s daily activities. One of the manager’s core responsibilities is to create, evaluate, and manage operational systems. Processes often get handed from one person to another without questions or examination. When things change but the systems don’t, the work suffers, and the manager becomes ineffective.

Complex systems. If there are people and processes, there is likely a complex system. Complex systems are interconnected and dynamic. They are often self-organizing and manifest in patterns and routines that emerge rather than being controlled.

Managers who recognize and understand the complex systems in their organizations will be more successful. Situations arise that can look convoluted and chaotic when, in fact, it is a complex system. A manager who starts making changes without understanding the underlying system will experience unintended consequences.

Some benefits can only be realized by letting a complex system exist. For example, nuanced activities like innovation, creativity, and relationship management must be cultivated and nurtured, not operationalized. If a manager tries to make some processes more efficient or reproducible, they may end up dismantling the very thing that made it effective in the first place.

Time to Level Up

Managers will be more effective leaders of themselves, their teams, and their organizations when they expand their ability to understand, manage, and improve systems. To do that, they must evaluate their current level and know what the next level looks like.

To do this, consider three levels of system proficiency.

• Level 1 = Foundational. The person is thinking about and actively identifying systems.
• Level 2 = Collaborative. The person can consider how the systems impact them and their department. This allows them to start making some localized changes.
• Level 3 = Strategic. The person knows how the systems impact the entire organization and can effectively make improvements.

These levels can be used for the four types of systems described above to provide a rubric for managers to evaluate and level up their systems thinking.

A manager who masters personal systems:

• Level 1: Has established routines to manage current duties. However, it isn’t scalable. If demands increase, effort must increase or things get dropped.
• Level 2: Established routines that flex as demands change. The person can absorb added pressures and build new habits to accomplish goals.
• Level 3: Uses systems to create margin in their life so they can scale their impact. Others are successfully adopting their systems.

A manager competent in technical systems:

• Level 1: Can support system changes or a new system implementation.
• Level 2: Is involved in designing changes that impact their department. They may be part of a steering committee or doing independent research to find the best way to meet department needs in an existing system.
• Level 3: Champions system upgrades and enhancements because they know how the department will be transformed and how it will impact the organization.

A manager who is fluent in operational systems:

• Level 1: Can follow the SOP, guidelines, or playbook and can run processes effectively to meet performance expectations.
• Level 2: Identifies tweaks and improvements to established processes that create better results for the department.
• Level 3: Understands how the organization is interconnected and can identify changes that would benefit other processes, systems, or areas of the business.

• Level 1: Can identify the components and interactions of a complex system.
• Level 2: Works with other departments to conceptualize and discuss the system and how it can be improved.
• Level 3: Creates frameworks and tools that build and advance systems for the benefit of employees, customers, and the organization.

As managers improve their systems thinking in these areas, they will notice an increase in effectiveness. As they better understand what should and should not be changed, they will feel more empowered to help the organization improve.

Bring It All Together

Let’s revisit Bob’s situation. Bob’s boss had given him a big task: improve company results. His initial options—adding costs or asking people to work more—didn’t feel right. Using systems thinking, he now has a range of options available.

• He can train his staff to improve their daily habits, giving them more time to follow up with existing customers. (Personal systems)
• He can automate part of the new account process and decrease the time employees spend on new account setups. (Technical systems)
• He can audit the new account process and identify steps that unnecessarily add time to the new account process or need to be updated. (Operational systems)
• He can investigate the customer retention problem in depth. He might discover that customers aren’t renewing because of persistent bugs and a lack of new features. Upon review, he identified that his department submitted mostly feature requests and bug reports from the check-in call. Instead of reinstating the check-in, Bob advocates establishing a customer advisory group that listens to the customer’s needs. (Complex systems)

As with most business cases, the answer is rarely simple. Bob has used systems thinking to improve the options available and elevate his status in the company. His team is delivering results while maintaining a manageable workload. The company has evolved its relationship with the customer and continues innovating while controlling costs.

Using this simple guide, managers can expand their understanding of systems and help themselves, their teams, and their organizations be more productive, effective, and successful.