We face so many problems these days. Education. Health Care. Food and water
quality. Infrastructure. Money in politics. Global climate change. And more.
But there's one problem I believe rises above them all. And that is...
We are still trying to solve ALL of our problems using the
same kind of thinking that created them!
Have you heard the expression "Insanity is doing the same thing
over and over and expecting a different result"? Well, our society is
stuck in an "insane" kind of problem solving do-loop. Problems
appear, and we use the same old thinking to solve them. They may look like
they're gone, but they come back.
And then we do it again. And they come back again. And we do it again.
And they come back again. Etc. Pretty insane, right? I mean, our problems never really go away!
I could give you examples of people who have gotten out of
this trap... out of this mental do-loop of ineffective problem solving (think:
pioneering inventor-types). But because I also believe "Give a man a fish,
he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he will feed himself the rest of
his life.", I am going to briefly explain this new thinking - it's called
Systems Thinking - to you instead. And then I will demonstrate its use by
solving a problem currently plaguing an industry I love very much: the retail
shopping industry. This is the industry my mother worked in after my parents
got divorced when I was a kid. And, in a way, it saved both her and my life.
I hope this demonstration makes you want to learn more. The world desperately needs a critical
mass of those who are problem solvers (hint: all of us!) to adopt this new
thinking. Because when that
critical mass is reached, society as a whole will take a giant leap forward...
to a much happier, healthier, and safer world. Sounds crazy? Well, trust me. That's different that
sounding insane! Okay! Let's go!
Systems Thinking is very different from the traditional
problem solving approach we learn in school. That traditional approach is
called "analysis", and - because we are all taught it from day one -
society as a whole uses it without question. We break our problems up into
their component parts... look for the broken part... and then think fixing that
broken part will make everything fine... only to have things stop working all
over again.
We are taught problems are like a car that won't run and
that fixing some broken part is all we need to do. We don't realize that the potholes in the roads (or our bad
driving skills... or a medical condition like sleep apnea) will just cause
something to break again. And
that's because it's not always the car's fault. The car is interacting with its environment and with the person
who is driving it. Sure, parts of
a car can wear out. But a car does
not exist separate from the rest of reality. It is part of an "environment-car-driver system".
A properly maintained car driven on properly maintained roads by a properly
trained and healthy driver will not break (unless it is hit by another less
well maintained "car-driver system", of course).
Systems Thinking teaches that the thing that's broken isn't
the only thing we need to look at. We must also explore the larger system in
which the thing that's broken exists. That's because when something doesn't
work it's often a flaw in the design of the larger system that is producing the
problem... time and time again. If we don't change the design parameters of the entire system, the problem will just reoccur; because problems are produced by
improperly designed systems.
Looking at the design of the larger system so as to uncover the flaws in
its design is called Root Cause Analysis.
And redesigning the system is what we do next. We figure out what new,
foundational design principles will let the system in question function in a
way that never produces those problems again! Imagine that: a problem-free system! Well, at least free of the problem that
was troubling us. Sometimes a
newly redesigned system creates new problems. But at least they're new. Better to do something new than constantly do the same thing
over and over, right?
Okay. Enough theory for now. It's time to show this theory
in action. Let's apply Systems
Thinking to the retail shopping industry.
To most people (especially in these difficult economic
times), shopping is defined as "finding what you want and paying the
lowest price for it you can". That's the shopping "car" most of
us "drive". And the people who manage the stores where we shop focus
on servicing that shopping equation. (For the wealthy, the equation may
substitute "exclusive" for "best price".)
But what if those store managers saw their customers as
having a larger, more interrelated "life equation"? What if instead
of being "shoppers" they were seen as "people"? What other needs that those "people"
have might those store owners seek to satisfy? Shifting from "shoppers" to "people" is
the start of using Systems Thinking.
So is seeing the store as more than a provider of goods or services at
the lowest price (or providing the most exclusive goods or services).
This "whole person" approach already exists for
individual shopping experiences (like buying coffee from Starbucks, where the
atmosphere is as large a part of why people go there as the coffee). But is that approach in use for a major
department store? Or are those stores locked into an ultimately unwinnable
fight with online retailers like Amazon over who can give customers the product
they want at the lowest cost and fastest delivery time? Amazon is projected to topple Macy's as the USA'snumber one apparel retailer by 2017 "To me, they're all trying to me-too Amazon,"
noted Nikki Baird, an analyst at RSRResearch. "The younger [the shopper,] the more advantage Amazon
seems to have." Same day delivery is now becoming a
battleground too.
When customers are only seen as "shoppers," price
and delivery speed are Amazon's strengths. What new strategic advantage might
Macy's gain if it saw customers as "people"?
For that answer, look at the larger system of the society in
which customers live. What do you see?
You see conflict - sometimes very violent conflict. You see people who have decided that
their differences with "others" - be they political, religious,
racial or ethnic, gender, or sexual orientation - are increasingly reasons to
declare war on those "others".
And you also see a planet under siege by a humanity that is only now
(with large pockets of resistance still) coming to terms with the need to
partner with - rather than abuse - Mother Nature. There is a way that Macy's can use this larger reality -
seen using Systems Thinking - to its advantage.
You think me insane to suggest this? Remember. Insanity is
doing the same thing and expecting something new to happen. I'm not insane. But I AM crazy. Crazy
in the way Apple promoted its products in 1997, with its Think Different
campaign:
A very powerful business strategy was championed starting in
2005 when the book "Blue Ocean Strategy" was
published. That strategy was innovation-led "discontinuous change" in
the products or services companies offer. Blue Ocean Strategy swept the
business world (multiple millions published in over 30 languages). And a
revised edition was published last year. Positioning your company so it offers
customers something they never thought possible - but which they would then run
to after learning it was now available - became hot for the obvious reason that
having uncontested market space makes you the instant market leader!
Why do I think Macy's should adopt this "discontinuous
change"-based strategy? Why
do I think Macy's should start saying to its customers "Shop here for a
better world"? Because Macy's
already says that to its employees! People who work for Macy's already work in
at least the beginning of that "better world"!
The Macy's Social Responsibility report (which you can read
about here and download here) details the extraordinary
measures Macy's is taking to create a more equitable, safe, and environmentally
sustainable workforce environment and product supply chain. It also details how these "better
world" efforts extend to at least some of the products Macy's offers its
customers.
This essay is not the place to detail how Macy's could
expand these efforts to create a similarly comprehensive assistance and support
effort for its customers. My aim is simply to show that such a breakthrough
agenda could result from Macy's using Systems Thinking to see its customers as
people rather than just shoppers... and using Systems Thinking to see the leap
in marketing and reputation value that would result if what it already does
internally were expanded outward.
Macy's is uniquely positioned to act on such a strategic
vision too. The theme of its annual Thanksgiving Day Parade could be made to
reflect this new strategy.
And it is where the story of the motion picture
"Miracle on 34th Street" took place. Why does that matter? Well, in that story, the character of
Kris Kringle (the store's Santa Claus) is the catalyst for the transformation
of how Macy's treats its customers.
Following Mr. Kringle's lead, Macy's employees help customers find the
products they want even if Macy's doesn't carry them! The extraordinary amount
of good will this kind of service creates more than offsets the sales lost when
people buy certain items elsewhere!
This is "reputation management" taken to the
highest level. And while it only
happened in a motion picture, a real world version is absolutely possible.
Macy's could leap forward in the retail shopping industry by showing its
customers how to join its employees in creating a sustainable future.... One in
which not only are products produced in ways that treat Mother Nature with
respect but one in which people - no matter what their differences - work
together in a spirit of cooperation towards the goal of a more harmonious
world... one in which everyone has the opportunity to (borrowing from Star
Trek, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year) "live long and
prosper".
Welcome to the breakthrough problem solving world of Systems
Thinking. Welcome to a future
where people flock to stores like Macy's because they can get something they'll
never get from an online store: face-to-face educational experiences regarding
how to make the world someday work for everyone. This is what we know Millennials
already want where they work.
And a hint of that result regarding Millennial shoppers can
even be found in the Myth #3 Social Networks section here...
"The goal should be to create positive buzz, to be
talked about by a presence on social media isn't enough--the aspiration should
be to become the topic of conversation for all the right reasons."
But honestly, I can only imagine how truly delighted ALL
shoppers will be - and how great the impact on the future of brick and motar
retail shopping - when that shopping experience becomes part of making the
world work better too!
(Originally published in The Huffington Post on February 23, 2016)
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