Don’t Blame the System!

W. Edwards Deming's taught us that, in his experience, 94% of the problems are with the system [1].  Because of this and other experience, a vast majority of the time our reaction is to blame the system. Here is the problem; systems are neither good nor bad. We utilize systems that give the output we want, we change the systems that do not give the output we want. Systems do not have feelings, they do not try to trick us, they just exist and operate. Our job is to review the systems we work within and determine if it is giving the desired output.  If not, what is the right adjustment.

Let's use the example of controlling traffic flow. Traffic lights or semaphores are traditionally used, especially in the US, to control the flow of traffic. Drivers responding to the lights and surrounding traffic conditions to control traffic flow is a system. We know how to work within the system based on the lights, we can either proceed, proceed with caution, or stop and wait for the light to change. But when we look at that system we realize that it's not giving us the output we want.   The current system has cars sitting at a red light while there's no traffic coming from the other direction, slows us down, increases potential for accidents, and (potentially) increasing our carbon output. Rather than blame the traffic light system, we need to change the system.  If the output we want from the system is improved traffic flow, improved safety, and decreased impact on the environment then we change the system accordingly.  By understanding the system’s current output, and the delta to the desired output, we can choose to change the system.

In many cases a traffic circle (in some regions called a roundabout) does make sense, so we change the system. Now we have moved the decision making to where the information is by allowing the driver to respond to feedback loops and proceed accordingly.  Approaching a traffic circle you are not looking at your gas or brake pedal, you are instead using your vision to determine how to enter the circle, and adjusting your controls (steering, gas, brakes) as you proceed.  But the reason you are doing that is because your vision is telling you what's happening in the traffic circle. Should I proceed, therefore applying gas? Should I slow down, therefore applying the brakes. This is all dictated by what we see and what's occurring within the traffic circle. We utilize these feedback loops and adjust our driving, resulting in improved traffic flow.  By changing the system, we have improved the ability to use the feedback loops that are already in place. 

In our organizations it is far too common to simply blame the system, thereby missing opportunities to improve the system.  If your organization is struggling with adapting to major changes (COVID-19 anyone?), remaining competitive, or changing the culture, be careful to not blame the system.  Blaming the system makes it too easy to say there is nothing we can do about it, that's just the way it works here. I love the phrase I learned from my friend Dan James that the 8 most expensive words in business are “because that's the way we've always done it”.  Realize that your current organizational system is not delivering the optimal value you want, understand the feedback loops that already exist within the system, and change the system to take advantage of these feedback loops for improved outcomes.  Again, systems are neither good nor bad, but it is our job to adjust systems when they are not producing the outcomes we want.

[1]“I should estimate that in my experience most troubles and most possibilities for improvement add up to the proportions something like this:
94% belongs to the system (responsibility of management).  6% special”,  W. Edwards Deming

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