Do you see the system(s)?

The first time I have started to "see" systems everywhere was after reading the book "The Leaders Handbook" by Peter Scholtes. Seeing systems is like having night vision goggles, you turn them on and you start to see things, that you would not be able normally with your senses. I did know about embedded systems, but I did not know that it is possible to view everything as a system.
So, what is a system:
    - is a regularly interacting or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole. Every system is delineated by its spatial and temporal boundaries, surrounded and influenced by its environment, described by its structure and purpose and expressed in its functioning.

This definition might sound like system is used to describe (mechanical) machines, and in the age of the machines, it was, since the term itself originates from thermodynamics. ( there was even a theory
later about the human brain being a machine.) And somehow humans tend to be limited to have only  mechanical theories.. 

But this definition above will not help you see systems, because there can be millions of items, multiple purposes. The trick is to consider the significant parts, the main purpose,  and organize all of them into separate views.
Now we just switch to Systems Modeling In simple terms you create a system type model of  everything you want and study it. Because it is a model ( everything is a model! even what you call reality is a mental model based on your senses ) the conclusions/results will depend on the accuracy of the model...
As a simple example example let's take the human body.
 - Digestive system ( Purpose: transform energy for the body ; Parts: you know them.. )
 - Nervous system (  Purpose: transmit signals ; Parts: you know them )
 - etc . ( the entire list is here )
 
So we might say that the body is a system of systems.. What is its purpose ?   (The whole should be  greater than the sum of its parts.. ;)
Go to the mirror and try to see yourself as a system. What can you say about the state of your subsystems ?  What is your purpose ? And what is your fuel?
Do it!

If you consider the greater you, then you can look at your life as a system. And even the whole world.

But there is a better model : the network !

If you want you can still reduce a network model to a system model, but you have to be careful not to eliminate some significant relationships, or items.
If  we go back to the small exercise above: How would you model your body as a network ? ( maybe you need a database ? )
An interesting experience that I had was acupuncture. I was able to feel how it worked, but wanted to know how it worked. After some extensive searching I was able to understand enough...
As I understood the traditional chinese medicine created a model of the human body ( with the qi, meridians,  points, and the balance between them ). I think  the chinese masters created/used a network model of the human body, even before network thinking existed...

A few years ago I saw an article about sequel to "The Leader's Handbook". I was interested because it was recommended by Ed Yourdon :
 - Management 3.0
I think it is an iteration over "The Leader's Handbook" ( Management 1.0 ) because it introduces the "views". Still it does not have the network thinking in it...
These books tend to reduce the complex human world to systems...
Because systems can be managed!  Did not find much on managing a human enterprise network...
Actually as Simon Sinek puts it:
"Manage systems, not people. Nobody wants to be managed.. People have to be led"

Are you powerful ?

A few years ago I was visiting the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit. I was struck by message of the following picture above a huge steam engine:

The sentence is true even today, we have a different, more precise word for power : Energy ( especially cheap energy.. ).
Once you have enough energy, you might still desire power. In this case the power is defined as the ability to influence or outright control the behavior of people. In case of control that is also called manipulation. This is present in many forms of today's private or other type of organizations.
I do not want to go into the full details of the types of power , just list a short definition and the weaknesses of them:

Legitimate power  - Also called "positional power," it is the power of an individual because of the relative position and duties of the holder of the position within an organization. Legitimate power is formal authority delegated to the holder of the position. It is usually accompanied by various attributes of power such as an uniform, a title, or an imposing physical office.
 - once the individual is not the holder of the position he is powerless.  A good example: ex-managers

Reward power - This results from one person's ability to compensate another for compliance. (giving out raises, rewards, etc )
 - if the rewards/raises are not perceived as value then the power weakens.

Coercive power - application of negative influences. (withholding rewards,  punishments )
 - it builds resentment and resistance from the people who experience it. Are judges powerful?

Informational power - having access / control over information.
 - once the scarce information is widely available and widely known this power weakens as well

And now the individual powers:  ( all the above ones are positional type )

Expert power -  deriving from the skills or expertise of the person and the organization's needs for those skills and expertise.  "Knowledge is power.", but knowledge in itself is not powerful. It is the use of knowledge and expertise that confers power .
 - it is specific, limited to a field - but it does not depend on position !

Referent power - is the power or ability of individuals to attract others and build loyalty. It is based on the charisma and interpersonal skills of the power holder.
 -  it is linked to reputation. Once the reputation is bad....

Also related to this topic are the "rules" of power. These are important because power (just like a knife ) is dangerous, you might hurt others or yourself. Here is a nice video ( an animated book review ) about how to apply the rules of power:

I remember taking part in a project management training where the trainer had a lot of quotes from the Art of War. I felt a strangeness in the parallel of project and war. ( one common thing is survival.. ). "If your only tool is hammer everything looks like a nail.." Here is an enlightening TED-Talk about the warrior's mindset:

So I think a better question to ask is: Do you need to be powerful ?  A better way is to have your ideas be powerful..
And to close the circle, here is a book about The Most Powerful Idea in the World.

Do you hate your job ?

Or the other way around, (maybe you do not hate it, it is "not so bad") ,  do you love your job ? Because if you do not love it, it means that something is wrong. It is ether you or your workplace ( maybe both.. ) Take a look at this picture :

Here are some questions to see at what level you are: (the first question where the answer is yes determines your level)
- Do you watch the clock during the day, to not spend more than 1 min above 8 h ? => Level 5
- Do you check your overtime regularly? => Level 4 ( Hamster )
- Do you plan to leave at the end of the year => Level 3 ( Chicken - laying golden eggs..)
- Do you feel highly stressed/tired ? => Level 2  ( Actually you are never tired* ) ( VIP Chicken)
- Do you love working there? ;)
*ok, there are some exceptions

Here is another way to look at employee engagement:

If the issue is with the organization you work for ( they are not mature enough developing people ) , maybe your interests do not align. The interests of the organization are mostly clear, but are your interests clear to you? There are some ruff questions you need to answer. I will not  detail them here, because there is a really nice toolkit available here:

 

Just sign up, follow the steps and fill out the free work books. ( I have done it, it was a great experience ) . They emphasize the importance of the environment, it is so true! Environment is the basis for development. ( A small side story on this. The mayor of Timisoara wanted to plant palm trees in the city. But this is not the right environment for them, so they can not grow and develop themselves.. )

  

 

Take this  free questionnaire!!  It might help you discover what you want to do before you die...

Just make sure you ACT, and check if the company/manager does CARE

While writing and researching this post I have discovered Simon Sinek The next thing I plan to do is to discover my why: 

Do you see the elephant inside you?

Elephants are big and strong. They form deep family bounds, are extremely intelligent animals and have memories that span many years, display signs of grief, joy, anger and play. I think this is why it is used in the elephant and the rider metaphor for the unconscious part of the mind. Here is a nice presentation of this model:

One way to know more about your elephant, are the personality tests, because your unconscious mind manifests itself trough your personality ( = patterns of behavior, thinking, values, habits, etc. All things that are 'automatic' are slowly moving into the unconscious part of our mind)
Because I am not an expert in psychology and it is only a hobby for me  I will not get into a lot of details, I will list here only a few things based on my current knowledge:
 - one of the  most complete is the  Myers-Briggs type indicator. A nice description is here. A nice visual map is here.
- a more "simplified" one is the DISC model.  There are many descriptions on the web, but this TED talk is a really good intro:

Now that we are aware of our elephants, the question remains how did we end up with them ?
They are the result of our education by the environment where we were grown up and living, even today.  There are many factors that are part of the environment.

One of the factors is the global world, since your elephant is shaped /educated by by the generational factors. If you like it or not you are part of a generational stereotype and your elephant is shaped by the big/global changes in your environment. Here is a table that compares them:

A list with even more details is here. You should be aware of this because of your parents, co-workers, and even your children. (really nice info-graphic).

Another even more important factor might be the order of birth. Here is a good description (the nice part is how it affects relationships ) and this is a good intro:

The autopilot metaphor is so powerful..(I think it is even better than the elephant..). The most important elephant education time is everything that happens till you are ~8 years old. 

If you like to try out things, here are some links to free personality tests:
- https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
- https://discpersonalitytesting.com/free-disc-test/

At the end do not forget that You and your Elephant are a great team if you work together. Make sure you know and understand it (or somebody else is directing your Elephant and it might not go to the places you want to be, since elephants are predictable...). Did you know that if elephants are afraid (ex from mice) they do not listen or completely ignore the rider ? Fear is a powerful tool used to direct entire  herds of elephants.

Which Phases of Life..?

During the weekend I have seen this TED-Talk ( watch TED and not TV !) about the quotes for every year in ones life and it triggered a thinking about this topic:

After 33 with the first kid ( and reading some child psychology topics about the childs chapters/stages of development, I was searching for the entire human life. After some searching ( researching?) on the topic I have identified this book of Thomas Armstrong :The Human Odyssey: Navigating the Twelve Stages of Life to be more complete than others.  Since reading books is a slow process I was searching on the net and found this website with a short outline.
The following picture below got my attention as well , and I think everybody likes the green comfort zones ;). I was trying to map the two and this is what I came up with ( here I consider only after 20 )

Early Adulthood (Ages 20-35):  Enterprise –  It takes enterprise for young adults to accomplish their many responsibilities, including finding a home and mate, establishing a family or circle of friends, and/or getting a good job.  This principle of enterprise thus serves us at any stage of life when we need to go out into the world and make our mark. -> This would be Freedom 1.
(btw. I am a big fan of Star Trek : Enterprise ) or Enterprises

Midlife (Ages 35-50):  Contemplation – After many years in young adulthood of following society’s scripts for creating a life, people in midlife often take a break from worldly responsibilities to reflect upon the deeper meaning of their lives, the better to forge ahead with new understanding.  This element of contemplation represents an important resource that we can all draw upon to deepen and enrich our lives at any age.  -> if this is the "Family" part then yep, things do match.

One thing that is not mentioned in the outline is that moving between these stages are the various crisis that have to be survived. If you are in the Midlife phase -> the midlife crisis. OK, our generation (millennials)  is used to crisis, so noting new here...  This comes immediately after the awareness of Enterprise mastering, so you do not have much time to enjoy it. You know you can do it, everywhere, but now one of the questions is does it make sense/ does it have a meaning ? is it inline with your life's purpose ?  etc....

Another similar simplified model ( with only 4 stages )  is described in a more fun way by Mark Manson.

But personally I  would not represent the human life as a linear graph. ( in the image/diagram above life expectancy seems to expand, as time passes by, this is in line with the expansion of the universe )
I am experiencing life more as a cyclic process ( life is a process ? ;) like this:

I was not able to find more information for now that describes/defines the  details of this spiral model. Based on this article a cycle is 21 years divided into 3 phases of 7 years.
While searching for the cyclic aspect of life I have learned about Chakras. A detailed description can be found here. I am able to map my life to this models as well: ( click here for the original enlarged picture )

  I am not sure if this works for everybody, but the idea is to be aware of the cycle/phase you are in and to act accordingly (in harmony with the natural flow of things).  It is not the best choice to go to the beach to swim during the winter...

Still, there should be some fun in the entire concept as well. Here is a fun picture, so keep cycling.

Think about your thoughts..

      One of the model that we have about our brain is that it is a layered architecture, one layer is based on top of the other one. ( my simplified view).
 Our rational layer relies on the emotional layer. If the emotional layer is in a NOK state it will inhibit/limit the operation of the rational layer. It is easy to observe others, but it is way more difficult to detect it yourself. This requires practiced mindfulness. One easy way is to look at the picture above and identify if some of the quotes from the thoughts type apply. There are also more  like that, my favorite one ( red )  is "This is not what I have expected". Most of the time you see in the news that something bad is going to happen, or something is unfair, etc this is when the people who make the news try to manipulate you, they shortcut your rational layer of the  mind by inducing a state to your emotional layer. So, try to protect your shortcuts!

 Here is a nice TED talk how to practice the habit of mindfulness:

Know your values !

 

If I may, I would rephrase it to: Be aware of what you value.

Based on the following definition value is a concept that describes the beliefs of an individual or culture. A set of values may be placed into the notion of a value system. Values are considered subjective and vary across people and cultures.


Take this test to find out your personal values for free at the Valuescenter. 
I like that they have defined a value system and tell you about your positive and negative values.
You will receive by e-mail your personal values assessment.
There is also a detailed description of the system.


Values vary across people and cultures but it seems that there are still some similarities if you look at generations. Generic values of generations is also important ( here is a list for  mY generation , even more details here  )

 

Values

• Self-expression is more important than self-control
• Marketing and branding self is important
• Violence is an acceptable means of communication
• Fear living poorly—this is related to lifestyle enjoyment, not wealth
• Respect must be earned; it is not freely granted based on age, authority or title

Attributes

• Adapt rapidly ( agile )
• Crave change and challenge
• Create constantly
• Exceptionally resilient
• Committed and loyal when dedicated to an idea, cause or product
• Accept others of diverse backgrounds easily and openly
• Global in perspective ( one planet one people )

 Keep in mind that if you value something, you are likely to pay ( work )  more for it.. ;)
 Your values might ( and will ) change over time ( this is why every generation has a different set of values ).

And you should also  check if the company that you work for has the same/similar  corporate values or if your values are compatible. Be careful not to mix strategies and values. ( here is a good article on this topic )

If you are in a relationship, make sure your partner shares the same values. It might be the right bond between you.

If you have a child ( or more of them  ) mindful parenting is also based on shared values. Otherwise the kid will not know what to value.