Systems Drive Behaviour!

I just returned from the Systems Leadership Association conference which I attend every year. It's always an inspiring event and reminds me how pertinent Systems Leadership Theory is in all we do, at an organisational level, but also at a societal level.

The one quote that comes up again and again in our conversations is: "Systems Drive Behaviour" and it's always a welcome reminder that the way we design our systems is soooooo impactful to the way our world runs.

There were many thought provoking discussions this year about 'confusion tax', 'dissipative systems' and truly inspiring stories of change within the schooling systems of Northern Queensland and the Torres Strait.

There's one story around dissipative systems that really stuck with me (aside from the amazing work of the Kuyup Consultancy Services) which came out of a discussion with Phillip Bartlett about how systems are all about 'flow' and how kinesthetic energy is transferred within it. This thermodynamics theory which is beyond my intellectual capacity to provide too much depth to, but the example that stuck with me was around traffic systems. There's a great example of how great system design in the traffic systems of Germany has had positive impact and targetted a known cause of accidents and traffic jams.

Within Germany, they have considered the causes and rather than targeting speeding within legislative control powers, the policies target tailgating, which is actually the known cause of pileups and traffic jams. The cameras on the Autobahns target people who are tailgating (ie travelling too close to the car in front of them) and apparently fine them heavily. I love this as an example of mature systems theory, with considerations of the system dynamics at play in accidents and then using that knowledge to inform policy and law. It's a mature, integrated system of control which they continue to monitor and tweak with other known causes of speeding and location black spots. Kinda cool!