on Systems Thinking

A listing in reverse chronological order of articles by:

JD Solomon — Communicating with FINESSE series

Robert (Bob) J. Latino — The RCA series

What is FINESSE? (and how it empowers effective communication)

FINESSE is a cause-and-effect approach for effective communication when there are high levels of complexity and uncertainty. Said another way, FINESSE is an approach used for big, strategic decisions that take months or years to make. FINESSE facilitates the memory of effective communication: Frame, Illustrate, Noise, Empathy, Structure, Synergy, and Ethics.

Don’t Use FINESSE if…

Major decisions that take months to resolve, require a significant amount of investment, and involve many people (and some calculations) have complexity and uncertainty. These are the situations where trusted advisors need FINESSE. [Read more…]

by JD Solomon Leave a Comment

The Fortune 500 and a Deceptive Communication Practice

Using shapes as a deceptive communication practice is an old trick used for manipulation by one side of an argument. The good news is that Fortune gets it right in its annual publication of Fortune 500 companies. Fortune correctly uses two-dimensional shapes (circles) to depict one-dimensional values such as annual revenues. We’ll discuss this data visualization trick in this brief article.

The Trick

Suppose your total revenues were $100 per month, and your leading competitor had total revenues of $10 per month. Clearly, you are ten times stronger from a total revenue perspective from your competitor. A one-dimensional graph, such as a bar chart, makes an honest visual representation of the difference.

[Read more…]

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Make Business Communication “To” Senior Management for Better Results

How we provide business communication to senior management is different from how we communicate with our peers. Our language reflects the way we see the power related to our relationships. Communicating “with” someone subconsciously reflects a relationship of equals. Avoid this trap for better results – after all, you work for senior management. Make business communication “To” senior management for better results.

Communicating “With”

Communicating “with” is the politically correct way of communicating. “With” reflects more friendly, two-way communication. In fact, most software grammar checkers will recommend changing “to” to “with” to be less aggressive.

[Read more…]

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Systems Thinking: CATER Provides Five Ways to Improve Team Facilitation

The mental model CATER will help you recall the five ways to improve any form of team facilitation. CATER does two big things necessary for all great facilitated sessions. The mental model creates comparable knowledge among participants and opens feedback channels for successful collaboration. Apply systems thinking and improve team performance by CATERing to your participants. [Read more…]

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Why Managing Dissenting Views is Critical for Good Group Decision Making

Majority voting and consensus decision making are two distinct approaches to making decisions in group environments, each with its own characteristics and implications. Consensus decision-making is an alternative to debate and passage of proposals that can be approved through a majority vote. It does not emphasize the goal of the full agreement but instead focuses on acceptance or “living with it.” Choosing the right method for the context, and more importantly, managing the dissenting view, is important in making good group decisions.

[Read more…]

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Why Fist to Five is a Powerful Decision-Making Technique

Fist to five voting is a simple and effective way to gather group feedback or to gauge consensus in a meeting or discussion. In this method, participants are asked to rate their level of support for an idea or proposal on a scale of 1 to 5, using their fingers. However, fist to five is a decision-making technique that should be described in the project charter and agreed upon by all participants. Ample time should be allowed between the initial poll and the final vote for negotiation and agreement to occur. [Read more…]

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Five Impactful Elements of the New Book, Facilitating with FINESSE

Facilitating with FINESSE: How to Guide People to Powerful Business Solutions is a practitioner’s guide for ten common applications that technically trained professionals are frequently asked to facilitate. The range of applications covers quality and reliability techniques such as block diagrams and tree diagrams through master plans and strategic plans. This article provides five impactful elements for professionals who are often enlisted to lead teams to workable solutions, despite having little or no facilitation training,

Content

The book focuses on ten practical applications and provides specific ways to facilitate them better. There is not a lot of wasted time on the basics covered by most facilitation books. Each self-contained application includes examples – good and bad – from my experiences on some complicated and controversial projects.

Determining Annual Maintenance Spend

Many people often ask, “how do I know if I have the proper annual maintenance spend for my plant?”. This short video will provide some concrete answers to measure how your maintenance spend compares to best practices.

This short video covers a simple formula to help you determine if your annual maintenance spend if reasonable.

/more

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Why Environmental Decision Making Is Difficult (and what to do about it)

All decisions require an allocation of resources. In the case of environmental decisions, the way we spend our time, money, or behaviors changes the quality of life and the people around us. In addition to two precursors, there are seven reasons environmental decisions are difficult. Approaching the many parts of environmental decision making as a system produces five ways we can allocate resources in an effective manner. [Read more…]

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Nine Questions on JD Solomon’s New Book, Facilitating with FINESSE

I recently sat down with Ray Moore and chatted about my new book, Facilitating with FINESSE: How to Lead Others to Successful Business Solutions. The book is scheduled for release on May 31, 2023.

Ray: What is your new book about?

JD: It is a practitioner’s guide for 10 common applications that technically trained professionals are frequently asked to facilitate. The range of applications covers quality and reliability techniques such as block diagrams and tree diagrams through master plans and strategic plans.

Prelical Practical Reliability Overview

This video provides a summary of the Prelical Solution’s Practical Reliability process. For more information, contact us at info@prelical.com or visit our website at prelical.com.

This video will provide a practical framework for implementing a reliability process at your company. Tips on how to develop an effective asset strategy, execution of that strategy and how to evaluate the results of the strategy in the field.

[Read more…]

by JD Solomon Leave a Comment

Helpful Summary Tips on Qualitative Assessments and Facilitation

Qualitative assessments are used in various applications, including asset management, risk management, human reliability analysis, and customer surveys. The usefulness of any qualitative assessment is a function of design, analysis, and administration. Facilitation plays a pivotal role.

Facilitators should understand the strengths and weaknesses of the qualitative assessments we facilitate and design. Qualitative assessments measure the opinions, attitudes, knowledge, perceived behaviors, observations, beliefs, and experiences of individuals who use a system the most. The correct understanding is fundamental as we lead participants to solutions that are created, understood, and accepted by all. [Read more…]

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Qualitative Assessments: Do the Fine Points of Risk Matrices Really Matter?

Opinion-based data is the foundation of qualitative assessments. Qualitative assessments are used in various applications, including asset management, risk management, human reliability analysis, and customer surveys. The usefulness of any qualitative assessment is a function of design, analysis, and administration. This article summarizes a review of ten risk matrices performed by facility owners or their consultants. [Read more…]

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Qualitative Assessments: 3 Bad Examples That Will Improve Your Effectiveness

Opinion-based data is the foundation of qualitative assessments. Qualitative assessments are used in various applications, including asset management, risk management, human reliability analysis, and customer surveys. The usefulness of any qualitative assessment is a function of design, analysis, and administration. This article provides three examples of poor qualitative analysis to avoid and, in turn, improve the effectiveness of your work.

Qualitative Assessment Scales

Likert scales are five-point ordinal scales where participants select a label (or numerical value) that equates to an opinion or attitude. Labels are paired (i.e., agree-disagree, strongly agree-strongly disagree) symmetrically around a neutral center. Today, we see 5-, 7-, and 9-point versions of Likert scales in everything from customer surveys to risk assessments.

[Read more…]

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What Are Best Practices for Facilitating Qualitative Assessments?

Opinion-based data is the foundation of qualitative assessments. Qualitative assessments are used in various applications, including asset management, risk management, human reliability analysis, and customer surveys. The usefulness of any qualitative assessment is a function of design, analysis, and administration. The article provides best practices for improving administering and facilitating qualitative assessments.

A Long History with Many Forms

The modern basis of opinion-based data’s scientific use can be traced from the western hemisphere to the late 1800s. Educators and psychologists were seeking to quantify their clinical observations of human behavior. A similar movement was underway in the fields of natural science and statistics.

[Read more…]