Scrum Master needs Systems Thinking

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With an objective to enable continuous learning and progression for our learners, PremierAgile curated several learning articles in the areas of Agile, Scrum, Product Ownership, Scaling, Agile Leadership, Tools & Frameworks, latest market trends, new innovations etc...

Scrum Master needs Systems Thinking

Scrum Master needs Systems Thinking

Initially, What exactly is  is a Scrum Master? Using Agile project management techniques, Scrum Masters lead teams through projects. Ensure successful results by facilitating communication and collaboration between team members and leadership. 

System thinking: 

In systems thinking, analysis is viewed primarily as a holistic process that emphasizes the way the constituent parts of a system interact as well as how systems behave over time and in relation to their surroundings. From the perspective of systems thinking, system behavior results from the interactions between reinforcing and balancing processes.

It is about thinking holistically, about thinking in a larger context. We can improve our skills to understand and solve complex problems by applying the principles of Systems Thinking. Scrum Masters deal with problems all the time.    

Benefits: 

System thinking can also be implemented in daily life & can be a very useful tool.

By breaking down, analyzing, and improving on the things around us (such as time), thinkers think in systems.  

An approach to workplace problems that emphasizes the big picture is systems thinking. It focuses on the whole workplace rather than individual elements. A major benefit of systems thinking is seeing how parts of your business interact to cause problems. Some major benefits are targeted below-

  1. Helps in the Exploration of new business opportunities.
  2. Creation & compelling vision of the future.
  3. Comprehend the complex human elements challenges related to change.
  4. Appreciate and fix the "issues that never seem to vanish".
  5. Systems must be redesigned.
  6. Designing of the new systems.    

The use of systems thinking in Agile change can help with planning the association as a system, distinguishing the right switch focuses to be utilized, and supporting and adjusting the drawbacks. Here are some points to consider:

  • Draw the system diagram from a systemic perspective
  • Decide what needs to be focused on. Consider the different variables that affect or are affected by the central theme as a group. If it is a reinforcing loop, draw a causal loop diagram. If it is a balancing loop, draw a causal loop diagram.
  • A leverage point, is an area where a small change can yield large improvements in the system
  • Typically, leverage points at pattern levels have a greater impact than ones at event levels, while those at systemic structure levels have a greater impact than those at pattern levels
  • Analyze the organization as a system and identify the system archetype
  • System archetypes can be identified by drawing the systemic structure. Due to the fact that structure influences behavior, this knowledge is key to understanding how the system behaves and to finding the right leverage points.
  • Not symptoms but causes should be addressed.
  • Though we live in an event-driven world, as system thinkers we should identify patterns and systemic structures and act accordingly. Today's problems arise from yesterday's solutions, so localized solutions are only redistributing the problem among various parts of the system
Principles of System thinking:

Frameworks believing is a discipline used to comprehend frameworks to give an ideal impact; the framework for pondering frameworks. It gives techniques to "seeing wholes and a structure for seeing interrelationships as opposed to things, for seeing examples of progress instead of static previews." 

Openness: Living frameworks must be perceived with regards to its current circumstance. 

Patterns: To recognize consistency or similitude that exists in various elements or at different occasions. 

Purposefulness: What one thinks regarding how they do what they do prompts understanding why they do what they do. 

Multidimensionality: To see integral relations in contradicting inclinations and to make attainable holes with infeasible parts. 

Counterintuitive: That activities planned to deliver an ideal result might create inverse outcomes.  

All does System Thinking involve:  

Recall that the articulation "systems thinking" can mean different things to different people. The discipline of systems thinking is something beyond an assortment of instruments and techniques – it's additionally a fundamental way of thinking. Numerous fledglings are drawn to the instruments, for example, causal circle graphs and the board pilot test programs, with the expectation that these devices will assist them with managing steady business issues. Yet, systems thinking is additionally an affectability to the round idea of the world we live in; a consciousness of the job of design in making the conditions we face; an acknowledgment that there are amazing laws of systems working that we are uninformed of; an acknowledgment that there are ramifications to our activities that we are absent to.

Systems thinking is likewise an indicative device. As in the clinical field, powerful treatment follows intensive determination. In this sense, systems thinking is a focused methodology for analyzing issues all the more totally and precisely prior to acting. It permits us to pose better inquiries prior to making hasty judgments. 

Why to use system thinking? 

At the point when you use system thinking in administration and activities, it assists you with settling on the right business choices. Eventually, the objective of thinking in systems is to assist you with keeping away from sat around, cash, and different assets. A systems way to deal with the executives considers the association a bunch of interrelated and dynamic parts. 

When to use System thinking? 

Issues that are great for a systems thinking mediation have the accompanying qualities:  

  • The issue is significant. 
  • There is a constant issue, not a one-time occurrence. 
  • The issue is natural and has a known history.  
  • The issue has previously been tried in vain by individuals.  
System thinking: how does it work? 

Causal Loop Diagrams. In the first place, recall that less is better. Start little and straightforward; add more components involved as vital. Show the story in parts. The number of components in a circle ought still be up in the air by the requirements of the story and of individuals utilizing the graph. There may be times when a straightforward portrayal is sufficient to animate discourse and provide another perspective on an issue. In different circumstances, you might require more circles to explain the causal connections you are surfacing. 

Additionally, remember that individuals frequently feel that a graph needs to fuse all potential factors from a story; this isn't really obvious. Now and again, there are outer components that don't change, change gradually, or whose changes are insignificant to the current issue.

References

1- https://www.scrum.org/resources/blog/systems-thinking-episode-0-what-systems-thinking-and-why-should-i-care

2- https://thesystemsthinker.com/systems-thinking-what-why-when-where-and-how/


Author

Paula

Is a passionate learner and blogger on Agile, Scrum and Scaling areas. She has been following and practicing these areas for several years and now converting those experiences into useful articles for your continuous learning.