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Business Consulting: Systemic Organizational Development as a Catalyst
In recent years, the working world has undergone various changes. This includes the landscape of management consulting and its approaches and perspectives on organizations. Among others, this shift is reflected in the systemic development approach. Originating from family therapy, systemic organizational development assumes that a company is a complex system that can only bring about change from within itself.
The analogy - an organization as a large family. Change must be driven from within, with the involvement of the system participants, and represents a process of creation and learning. Looking from the outside is not enough. It is not enough to pick out and analyze isolated parts of the system. The bigger picture is considered, and the actors themselves are mobilized to shape the development process. The following provides a brief overview of the systemic approach and its opportunities in management consulting.
Just a question of the system?
Perhaps after this introduction, one might ask: If a systemic approach aims to empower individuals to take action and, above all, take responsibility for their actions, why bother seeking professional assistance from outside when you have to do all the work yourself anyway? So, in what role do we, as consultants, see ourselves? The following will clarify why the systemic approach does not assume that the process of change can be initiated solely by the individuals involved.
Historically, originating from the family therapy systemic approach, and definitely classified as humanistic, the organization is viewed as a system and an expert in itself. The individuals within the system are attributed with the greatest competence for their own challenges as well as strengths. The organization, as a whole, is like a family that knows best how it functions and how it can evolve.
In systemic family therapy, multiple participants, ideally all, are involved and not just the affected individual is considered as the client. They are merely the symptom of an ailing family system in which everyone plays a role. This perspective can be effectively applied to structural and personnel issues and points of conflict within a company. For example, conflicts within a team or department that occur between individuals do not necessarily only affect those directly involved. Often, there are deeper structural weaknesses that can generate tension and are merely brought to the surface by the parties involved in the conflict. When seeking external consultation, this can help uncover the challenges as well as the strengths that the company holds within its community, in conjunction with the knowledge of the leadership and sometimes employees.
This is also the main task of consulting according to a systemic approach. Those who work systemically see themselves more as process moderators and catalysts. The participants themselves mainly influence the topics and contents of the development and/or problem-solving process. Although the management consulting has an external perspective, it is primarily to support the organization in the process, to uncover and utilize resources, solution approaches, and potentials. The external view of the system is definitely valuable and often irreplaceable. If the system were to tackle the questions on its own, there would be too much risk of blind spots that the internal stakeholders might have difficulty perceiving due to structural and personnel entanglement.
Self-help assistance - systemic consulting creates sustainability
Traditional management consulting is often used like a medication to treat surface-level symptoms. A means to an end. However, this approach usually results in the underlying causes remaining untreated, festering like an inflammatory process. Perhaps a problem disappears for a short time, but the cause persists and can ignite a conflict elsewhere at any time.
The systemic approach recognizes the danger of problem chains. Superficial problem-solving that only considers partial aspects leads to the need for repeated external assistance, as the root of the issue was never addressed, and the bigger picture was not taken into account. This gradually renders the organization itself dependent, depriving it of its own competencies, and hindering its ability to "heal" itself. Systemic consulting sees itself more as development aid, aiming to activate potentials for self-help in future challenges.
Thus, while the organization initially requires a higher investment of resources and input for the consulting process, it is subsequently equipped with competencies that enable sustainable internal problem-solving capabilities. In the long run, the output is greater.
Idea of Men and Work Attitude
As a humanistic approach, systemic organizational development embraces values that are highly compatible and congruent with the current changes in an agile work environment and the shift towards a new way of working, New Work. The two core principles, "Learning instead of Revolution" and "Resource and Solution Orientation," emphasize that systemic organizational development aims for long-term and stable change. Similar to the agile approach of "Inspect and Adapt," it is a suitable method within the framework of change management.
Therefore, one should not fall into the misconception that the process of systemic organizational development is aimless. It is simply non-intentional, intending to expand the space for potential development. The company should not be treated as immature and in need of instruction. Rather, management consultancy and company leadership cooperate on an equal footing, benefiting from their respective competencies. The management consultancy acts more as a catalyst for unlocking potential. Problems are viewed holistically, and the social fabric of a company should never be excluded, even if the problem is structural in nature.
By choosing a systemic approach, a company opts for a comprehensive opportunity to awaken potentials, uncover resources, and transform the organization itself into a competent change manager. It is a decision for long-term system stability and a humanistic set of values.
Just when you think you know something for sure, you have to look at it in another way.
from the movie "Dead Poets Society"
References:
https://chancen-navigator.de/organisationsentwicklung
https://newworkglossar.de/was-ist-systemische-organisationsentwicklung/
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