What is Systems and Synergy.

There are always good questions and comments regarding Systems and Synergy.  Orlando recently checked in with a nice comment.  In my daily life, people keep asking me questions like: ”So, just what is this systems and synergy you write about.”  I always try to explain with… well, too many words. Then I realized just the other day that to have a practiced, concise answer to this good question is not slick or glib.  I realized that a precise and concise answer is important and necessary.  Here is the answer: Read the rest of this entry »

Positive Self Talk Reduces Stress and Happiness Makes you More Successful!

Positive Self Talk Reduces Stress and Happiness Makes you More Successful!

I like the ABOUT website because it hosts experts in many fields.  I have an application on my igoogle page that feeds headlines from several sites to my desktop each day, including those on ABOUT.

This morning, the following articles really caught my eye.

Reduce Stress and Improve Your Life with Positive Self Talk

and the next one as well

Happy People — Secrets of Happy People

Now, these sites have all sorts of advertising, but that’s okay.  The information is sound.  It just goes to show — once again — how important directed thought is.  The resources I studied and synthesized for my book go back as far as 2000 or so years right through to the present.  Here is another example of modern science discovering the power of thought.  Systemitized synergy… its the best!  Have a great day!

Principle Centered Leadership :-)

Stephen Covey wrote a great book… a great big book many years ago.  Principle Centered Leadership.    Here’s what it means to me…

Covey expends a great deal of time and effort focusing the readers attention on natural metaphors.  The enduring law of the farm is the grand, guiding theme of this book.  The first sixteen chapters focus greatly on the development of self, and they culminate in a management model called the Principle Centered Leadership paradigm. It is constructed on the following foundations: the alternate life centers of security, guidance, wisdom, and power; the characteristics of highly effective people; the resolutions of discipline, character and competence, and service; integrity, maturity, and abundance; growth; moral compassing; Principle Centered Power; communication; influence; and balance.  What does all of this mean to me? Read the rest of this entry »

Finding ‘UP’ through Systems Thinking

If you are sick, you really don’t have to do anything… at the very least, people don’t expect much of you.  That’s fair because most people feel a little low now and then and getting cut a little slack can go a long way to recovery.

BUT

What if there is no direction for a recovery?  To recover, you are returning to a state of balance and if you don’t know what or where that balance is you don’t know what direction to head for an optimal state of being. Kind of like jumping from a height into a lake and losing the ‘UP’direction for a moment.  That’s a bad moment.  It feels very out of control.   Now, what about organizations?  What if they are ’sick’ and no one expects much of them because they don’t have the talent, the funding, the facilities, the management team, the support, the recognition….  What if your organization is sick and you are floating along with no where to recover to?  No ‘up’.

What if?

You have to know where you are going in order to get there…. That’s what forecasting is all about and planning.  Do they work?  If the road you are driving on leads to a cliff, then all the planning in the world, all the best talent on board, the best equipment etcetera will not mean much by the time you reach the end of the journey!  Forecasts and planning must be made in health and plan for health.  A sick organization is not the best planner.  Its like a sick person.  It just wants to get better and lays low and does its best to recover.  Luckily for individuals, we are — most of us — able to return to relative health after being ill.  Thankfully, gratefully, we return to health.  An organziation doesn’t have such sophisticated organizing power as does the magnificent human body… so, it needs to see itself as a system — and within the system that it inhabits — before it can find its up.

The systems thinking exercise in objectivity is done through symbolic conversation.  Using symbols to ‘tell the story’ of the organization helps everyone first SEE what the parts make and then realize — collectively — just WHAT the organization is.  After this, purpose and direction are determined.  And THEN strategies can be implemented — but ONLY those that make sense in terms of the system’s organization, structure and capacity.  And, all along the way the tools of systems — the symbolic language of organizing — are used for deep conversation and clarification.  They are used to CREATE the organization’s picture and its story.  Complete a systems thinking exercise in objectivity and you are ready to apply energy and find the correct times and places to influence for gain, for good, for improvement.  Its the only way that works.  It is the way.

Douglas Leadbetter M.Ed.

Systems Thinking in Daily Life: A to B

Proactive systems thinking is the best kind of systems thinking.  If you can make a change in a process or situation or system so that you don’t have to ‘react’ later on, then you are using systems thinking to your best advantage.  Sure, systems thinking can be used to ferret out problems and solve problems, but its that ‘problem’ word that we would like to get rid of because if you are not dealing with problems, then you are able to focus more of your energy on opportunities.

In the diagram above a simple visual aids in explaining the benefit of understanding your system and using that knowledge to apply change effort strategically.  Here’s the basic idea:  you want to move the line from 1 to 8 over time.  The angle of change that you can employ is limited to one grid of ascension per grid of time.  So for you math types, its a rise and run equation.  For every cell moved along the ‘x’ axis you are able to move one grid upwards on the ‘y’ axis.  This is really simple but powerful.  Look.

 In instance ‘A’ they waited until the fourth unit of time before implementing the change at the prescribed angle.

In instance ‘B’ the change was made in the second unit of time to impliment the change at the prescribed angle.

Look at the difference!  In ‘B’, using the EXACT same angle of change as in ‘A’ you finish at 6 rather than 4!  Simple?  Yes.  So simple that people forget about the power of proactive change?  In way too many instances people do not examine their systems and find areas of influence.  Far too often, people wait until a problem occurs, thus using vital energy that COULD be used for increasing positive possibility.  All the best. 

Douglas Leadbetter  M.Ed.

Systems Thinking — Business Energy

Lately I have been navigating the WWW looking for sites that share similar ideas to this one.  So far a few have popped up and I’ve left comments and joined discussions. For a moment I would like to present one that is called Business Energy written and managed by Penelope Else.  She struck me with her interesting and voice-laden article about the need for business people to twitter.  I think she convinced me to tweet and twit etc.  More than that, however, it was when I read her ‘about’ page that I knew there was someone to recommend to readers at this site.  In blue below is a section of that page:

What is Business Energy?  It’s the vibe that your business puts out into the marketplace: the energy with which you create and implement new ideas, cohere as a team and engage with your customers.  It’s the source of your attractiveness for new business opportunities and the cause of your success.

It comes from a combination of: clear goals & planning, creativity, leadership resilience, good social networks and a healthy, motivating attitude towards staff and clients.  These don’t always come naturally, but they can all be learned.

If you have spent any time at this site looking around, you will recognize immediately what I like about Penelope’s words.  Vibe… vibration?  Energy….  Cohere as a team = alignment and synergy.  Clear goals and planning are right there with determining a purpose.  Good social networkers….

I have a great feeling about this site and Penelope’s work; I am grateful to her for creating such an enriching site.  I want to take just a moment to reflect on good social networking; it is at the root of building direction, alignment, purpose, and the synergistic focus that truly brings high performance results. Furthermore, I am becoming convinced that the web is presenting to all of us who are tuned in an opportunity to make connections, mine knowledge, stay current, make good decisions and so much more. If used correctly, I find that the web and related tools offers an opportunity to find streams of energy and thought that are useful and helpful in each of our growth and success. We have at our finger tips through techniques that can be learned, an opportunity to meet with people from all around the world in what Will Richardson calls intraspaced communities built around passion.  We are able to become more than the sum of the parts through working together towards common aims.  We are truly able to find others who align with what we align with and create vibrant cadence in positive directions.  Thanks for reading.

Douglas Leadbetter M.Ed

In taking action…

In taking action, do so and believe that you can do so in the following ways: demonstrate fairness, give encouragement, nurture, show patience, stay interested in positive growth, provide quality service, contribute in positive ways, demonstrate honesty and integrity, be concerned with excellence, value human dignity, be accepting, be kind and open, show compassion, be gentle, be teachable, be creative, be loving and demonstrate an abundant character, be receptive, be appreciative, be reflective…. 

The Synergy in Life System… book. Section 8

Well, we’re on to the second chapter.  In this section, the system begins to pick up speed.  Have a look at what Einstein told us that affects just how effective we can be…  really! Read the rest of this entry »

The Synergy in Life System — Section 4

The posts keep rolling out.  I hope you are telling your friends about this site!  The next section is a short one.  It entails aligning your affluence — a natural desire for health, wealth, and happiness — and your desire to have a purpose in life that is beyond that of daily sustinance and survival.  Remember to read these particular posts in order….

Aligning Affluence and Purpose Read the rest of this entry »

“GSCS: built on quality service and client benefit.”

In these GreenSeed Consulting Posts, you can have a closer look at the areas of expertise offered by GSCS.  

Training:

Ø  Succession Planning – Inquiry and Recommendations:  with the current rate of retirements, this is a growth area that must be addressed! Tap in to the wisdom of those close to retirement – before it is too late.  A four step process is used to discover and present your current training needs and the training goals that will keep you abounding with qualified staff well into the future:  (1) consult with key staff to determine specific needs and measurable goals for successful succession planning; (2) develop and administer and collate survey items; (3) conduct informed interviews with experienced professionals and newcomers in your field to discover gaps, needs, and vital suggestions; (4) present the report.

·       Benefit to Client: a comprehensive report is presented detailing current training needs and vital training goals to consider and act upon through a positive and effective succession plan specific to your enterprise. Read the rest of this entry »

The Synergy in Life System Book… Section 3

The Harmonious Influence of Energy

Have you ever met those people who gripe and complain all the time, and through all the griping and complaining not one bad thing is turned to good; bad things just keep happening to them over and over.  Lucky for these people, they manage to have an endless supply of things to gripe and complain about!  Read the rest of this entry »