Why Systems Thinking Still Matters for Building Materials

Have you heard of Systems Thinking?

If you’re new to business and sales, you can be forgiven for not knowing much about it.

That’s because Systems Thinking is an idea that had its heyday back in 2008. Since then, we’ve mostly shoved it aside in favor of newer, shinier buzzwords.

But a lot of building material companies struggle to grow their sales because they forgot the lessons and insights of Systems Thinking.

Systems Thinking in a Nutshell

Systems Thinking is a way of looking at your company. Instead of thinking of your company as an assemblage of different parts, you see your company is really an interconnected system.

That means the activity of every part of the system affects the other parts of it. What one department does affects other ones. What one staff member does ripples throughout the team.

What Happens When You Forget Systems Thinking

Building material companies are good at coming up with solutions. The problem is they tend to come up with solutions that are focused on a single perspective – they’re staring at a few trees and forgetting about the forest.

When you forget Systems Thinking, you run into some big problems:

·     People vs. systems problems – fixing the system is usually cheaper, more effective, and more sustainable than trying to fix individual issues, people or departments

·     Multiple perspectives means fewer biases – keep an eye on the big picture instead of getting focused on the wrong issue

·     Your customer is part of your system – engaging with them directly is smarter than paying a market research firm to study them

·     Shared vision – instead of everyone pulling in different directions

Bring Back Systems Thinking

Systems Thinking is not a fad; it’s an insightful way to understand how your organization actually works.

It’s time to bring it back.

If you want to learn more about Systems Thinking and what it can do for your building material sales, check out my full blog post.

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