Profound Book Club August 24, 2023 (Morning Session)

Here is a summary of the key points discussed in the conversation:

• Importance of getting feedback from friends/network rather than publishers when writing a book. Publishers have schedules and agendas, friends will give honest feedback to make the book better.
• The story of writing the book "The Leader's Handbook" by Peter Scholtes. Statistics for Experimenters for it took over 21 years from start to publishing due to extensive revisions. Books take time.
• Discussion about operational checklists: they need to be living documents that are continuously updated, not static procedures. Understand why steps are included.
• Ensemble/mob programming can reduce need for extensive documentation - everyone is focused on top priority items together.
• Occam's Razor vs Hickam's Dictum - the idea that complex systems can have multiple root causes, not just a single one. Related to systems thinking.
• Insight that most problems (95%+) stem from the system, not individuals. This was wisdom from Deming, Peter Scholtes and others.
• Issues with blame, simplistic root cause analysis and not taking a systemic view. Examples like the movie Stand and Deliver not capturing the full system/history.
• Importance of documenting the reasoning behind steps in checklists and processes so it isn't lost over time as things change.
• General themes around systems thinking, understanding complexity and the interrelated nature of problems. Taking a nuanced view vs simplistic.

Additional Research

Systems Thinking:

• Systems thinking is a holistic approach to analysis that focuses on the way components in a system interrelate and how systems work over time and within the context of larger systems. It is the opposite of reductionist thinking (isolating smaller and smaller parts of a system).
• Key works in systems thinking include books by Donella Meadows, Peter Senge, Russell Ackoff, W. Edwards Deming, and Jay Forrester. There are various frameworks like system dynamics, soft systems methodology, and the viable system model.
• Core concepts include feedback loops, stocks and flows, system archetypes, leverage points, emergent properties, system boundaries. It provides a lens for seeing interconnections and root causes of problems.

Complexity:

• Complexity theory deals with the behavior of systems that have many interacting agents/parts that lead to emergent and often unpredictable behavior. Things like chaos theory and cybernetics fall under complexity.
• Key researchers include Stuart Kauffman, John Holland, Murray Gell-Mann. Concepts like fitness landscapes, edge of chaos, self-organization. Used in fields like computer science, biology, economics.
• Complex adaptive systems are a class of complex systems with agents that learn and adapt based on experience. Creates non-linear behavior. Applicable to things like organizations, technology, evolution.

Blame Culture:

• Blame culture in an organization focuses on blaming individuals rather than examining systemic causes of failures. Related to fundamental attribution error in psychology.
• Creates fear of failure/punishment, discourages surfacing problems, stifles learning and improvement. Alternative is a "just culture" that looks at systems issues.
• Requires leadership commitment, psychological safety, failure tolerance, systems analysis skills, focus on process improvement vs punishment. Health care is a sector working hard on this issue.