Systems Theory

Monday, July 11, 2011

Welcome the Feral Cats! (Systems)

I am an avid gardener. No, let me rephrase that, I am a newly invigorated avid gardener. After being in parsonages when I couldn’t plant or maintain a garden and finally owning my own home and remodeling it for the past six years, I was able to once again become an avid gardener. Last year I spent hours digging out 10 cubic yards of clay (literally) from my back yard for a new garden. I spent another huge number of hours coaxing my sons to help with that task. By the end of the summer, the clay was gone, the top soil was in place and I was shopping for bulbs.

I planted over 300 bulbs in my new garden. I had no idea that squirrels just love tulip bulbs. I also did not know how persistent they can be, digging up to six inches deep to remove them from the soil. I started waging a war. I would go out every day and put hot pepper on the soil where the tulips were. There were a few casualties but for the most part, I saved most of them. I need to add here that there weren’t just a few squirrels in my neighborhood. They were all over the place. On any given morning I could look out my back door and easily count a dozen that were within my viewing range. I could hear them all over the place – the trees literally shook with them when they played by chasing each other all through the tree tops.

Then, feral cats started showing up in my neighborhood. I wasn’t sure I wanted these fur balls around. They could be diseased and I certainly did not want them using my new flower beds for a litter box. This spring I was sitting on the back porch having a cup of coffee and my husband recognized that there were very few squirrels around – an amazingly low number in fact. Between the two of us we only saw two squirrels that morning. Later my husband added that maybe it had something to do with the cats. “Come to think of it, I did see one of those cats carrying a dead squirrel across the road last fall.”

Ahh….the balance of nature has kicked in. Maybe those cats aren’t so bad after all. They won’t come near us and they aren’t using my flower beds for a litter box. I think we can co-exist. And I pour another cup of coffee……

Humans do whatever they need to preserve their selves and their stuff. Don’t mess with my space or my stuff. We’re programmed to defend.

So what happens in an organization when there’s change? Radar goes up and the unspoken anxieties go something like this, “So, how will this effect me?” Then our brain begins to project the possibilities and calculate how we can protect our social position within the organization.

So the squirrels anxieties perked up when I was digging up the soil and found that the effect for them was good – a new, delicious food source. I was totally innocent as to my impact on the system, as are most new comers in an organization. Then the fight began – the squirrels, being squirrels, started to dig up the bulbs and have a wonderful picnic lunch. I, on the other hand, brought out the big guns – red pepper sprinkled on the soil. It worked until it rained. I learned that quickly, as did they and then it was a race – who would get to the tulip bulbs first? I was rising early and getting to the garden with the pepper. I even enlisted my son, who worked different hours, to do the deed for me. In an organization, these sorts of calculations and pattern watching go on outside of our range of consciousness usually. The newcomers to an organization have no idea that they are treading on someone else’s good idea or new task. In their enthusiasm, they want to be involved in everything. The old gang clings to one another, gossips about the newbies, and form coalitions – again this is usually not a maliciously conscious decision. Gossip is our culture’s way of transmitting norms and expectations to others. It basically is a warning that says, “This is what you need to do to be a part of this group.”

Enter the feral cats. It was fall. I did everything to keep them away and my neighbor, being the kind soul she is, built them a shelter and regularly left water and food out for them. Ugh! Then in the spring my husband observed that there were far fewer squirrels and that he had spotted one of the cats bringing one home for dinner one evening – and not as a guest! And my bulbs were untouched! YAY! I won! The newest newcomers, the cats, had skills and expertise that I did not and it benefitted me. Well, maybe they aren’t so bad after all.

And so goes it within a human system, once we have learned that the newcomers are no threat, and in fact can be beneficial, we open our system to them. If they are perceived as a threat, the system is closed.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Early Warning System (Systems)

Waiting for Santa Claus when you are six, waiting for your first date to arrive and meet your parents, waiting for the bridal march to begin…..all are examples of anxiety. Sometimes just remembering a moment like these brings the same visceral response as the original moment. Anxiety is a natural state of being in that it is designed to warn us of impending danger or joy. Should we run or keep our eyes peeled so we don’t miss a thing? Our nervous system is designed to be alert to these signals and make a snap judgment about what action to take. We are designed to seek safety.

Each person’s anxiety response is fine tuned to its own level and that tuning began before they were even born. Babies in the womb learn to respond to the calm or anxiety they detect in their mother’s voice. My own definition of anxiety is ‘the energy of anticipation’. What usually triggers anxiety? Change.

Change triggers anxiety because during a more primitive time, change could signal danger, or a potential food source. Our nervous system has us constantly scanning our environment for change. The more unruly our anxiety is, the more we seek to calm it. Sometimes the way one chooses to soothe their self is healthy, other times not so much.

Within a system, there exists system anxiety. An entire group is alert to potential change and ready to evaluate in a flash to decide how to respond. Anxiety is contagious. If one person in a group is anxious, it can spread. Within a group of animals, if one is spooked and begins to run, the whole group joins in even before they know what they are running from. On an organizational level, witness the rumor mill that quickly begins based on small pieces of information.

Like an individual, a group will also focus its energy of anticipation. Heighten the change potential and the energy is heightened. The higher the energy, the greater the dynamic exchanges between the members of the group. Sometimes the way the group handles the energy is healthy, other times not so much.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Systems Theory

Systems Theory is a framework for looking at the dynamics within any size group. Groups are considered to be made up of the individuals as well as subgroups. For instance, in a couple, each partner is a part of the system. In a family, each member is a part of the system. Within a family, two typical subsystems are the parent system and the child(ren) system. Within a congregation, each person is a part of the system, each family can be considered a subsystem, and each committee can also be a subsystem. Depending on the current activity within the larger system, subsystems may reconfigure in response to the issue at hand. Taken to the next level, an entire congregation can be considered a subsystem in the context of an entire community. Many of the dynamics within a system have a predictable pattern.

Systems theory also posits that every member within a system has an impact on the system - thereby creating a dynamic system. The passive person, the dominant person, the worker bee, the occasional attender, the clergy - all play a role. Learning what each of these roles entails, recognizing your own role in the system, and recognizing the impact your role has are all a part of understanding systems theory and using it to help your congregation. An accurate description of the dynamic and your part in it, often called the dance, is the beginning of understanding how to change the dance.