Systems Innovation
Framing
…the systems challenge and goals
The first step in Systems Innovation is to frame your systems innovation challenge. In this lesson you will:
Compose a “How might we” statement to represent the challenge:
How might we help ____________ to ______________ so that ________________.
Determine that the challenge is appropriate for systems thinking using a Complexity Spectrum Chart
Identify the people impacted by the challenge using a Stakeholder Map
Describe the environment in which your challenge exists using a Context Map
Set your goals defined as a Guiding Star and Near Star
Compose a Framing Question to guide the next stage of Systems Thinking - Forces
How might we?
Every great invention begins with a crucial observation and a beautiful question.
“A beautiful question is an ambitious yet actionable question that can begin to shift the way we perceive or think about something—and that might serve as a catalyst to bring about change.”
-Warren Berger, "A More Beautiful Question"
A “How might we?” question identifies who you are trying to help, what you are trying to help them accomplish, and what long term benefit you hope to obtain. It should be of a scope that is actionable but does not include any suggestion of a solution.
For example, a university administrator might ask:
How might we better engage students in their studies so that they might gain optimal value for their tuition dollar and graduate prepared to offer value to their future employer?
Action: Take a moment to design your HMW and record it on your Miro board.
Complexity Spectrum Chart
A Complexity Spectrum Chart is used to determine if a systems innovation challenge is appropriate for addressing with systems thinking. It measures four attributes of the challenge: its nature, how people engage with and perceive the problem, the problem environment, and the nature of the intended goal. Acumen describes these measures as follows:
Here’s a more detailed description of the Complexity Spectrum Chart fields from Acumen
Action: Use this Interactive Complexity Spectrum Chart to gauge if your challenge is suitable for systems thinking. Total scores above 200 are increasingly ideal for systems thinking.
Stakeholder Mapping
Once you’ve confirmed that your challenge is appropriate for the systems thinking process you should identify all the people that are somehow impacted by the problem using a Stakeholder Map. Identify ONE Primary stakeholder, then many secondary and other stakeholders.
For example, the college administrator seeking to improve student engagement would likely select students or teachers - depending on who they wish to help, as the primary stakeholder. Secondary stakeholders might be teachers, advisors, and parents, other stakeholders might be employers and high school advisors.
Action: Map out the stakeholders for your systems innovation challenge on your miro board using digital sticky notes. All team members should contribute and work in parallel. Remember to select only ONE primary stakeholder - the person you are seeking to help.
Context Mapping
After identifying all stakeholders that are impacted in all kinds of ways by your systems innovation challenge, it’s time to analize the environment in which this challenge exists using a Context Map. We do this by exploring trends of the primary stakeholder, the organization, in society, and in the market in which the organization exists. We also explore technology trends that may impact the challenge.
For our college administrator:
The Primary Stakeholder identified above is the customer/user
The university is the organization
Higher education is the market
Some trends my cross multiple categories.
Action: Map out the trends that impact your systems innovation challenge on your miro board using digital sticky notes. All team members should contribute and work in parallel.
Stars
When seeking to improve a system, it’s important to identify your goals, or “stars,” in the mid-term and long-term.
A guiding star is a vision that is framed as the desired future system toward which your team is working. It will serve as a navigational tool for the long haul as your team impacts the system and adapts over time.
A near star is a 5- to 10-year goal that is framed as a distant, but foreseeable outcome that could be attained. It should be a significant step toward the guiding star. We call the near star provisional since it is highly likely that your near star will be revised as you continue to learn new things about the ever-changing system along your systems journey.
Action: Identify the guiding star and near star for your systems innovation challenge and record them on your Miro Board. Try to use this format to capture your thinking:
Our guiding star is a [name of system] that produces [desired condition]
With your guiding star in place, you can now try building your provisional near star. Brainstorm what a distant, but foreseeable goal on the way toward the guiding star may be.
Framing Question
Action: Compose a framing question for your challenge on your Miro board in the following format:
“What are the forces that inhibit and enable ____[primary stakeholder]____ to [challenge]?”
This statement is used to transition us into the next stage of systems innovation.
You are ready to move on to the next stage of Systems Innovation: Exploring Forces.
or choose from the below options.
Systems Innovation > Framing > Forces > Loops > Map > Levers