A California-based software firm wanted help with problems related to rolling out and ramping up sales of their new products. Their new products were not “taking off”, and they were not able to shift their client base to the next generation software. In a kickoff session at the very onset of the process, Mike asked for a show of hands from participants as to whether they thought they knew what the problem was and how to fix it. About 80-90 percent of the hands went up indicating they were pretty sure they knew what the cause was and what the solution was. Mike then repeated the same questions at the end of the process, and the results were quite startling. No one raised their hand! In a relatively short time using systems thinking, the group truly came to “admire” the roll-out problems they faced. They recognized the systemic roots of the issue, that there was no simple obvious fix, and that everyone was implicated. After years of struggle, this was progress. 

The bottom line that emerged out of this systems thinking application was that there was a significant shift within the organization from “who is to blame for this?” to “how are we all contributing to the problem?” The systemic diagnosis revealed a wider and deeper story that touched all parts of the company and made the compelling case why it was everyone’s problem to solve. A systems thinking task force was able to identify a number of tactical and strategic recommendations that put the firm on a different path. This included a set of key metrics broadly shared that would serve as an early warning and measurement system readily supported by all the senior managers.