Getting the Whole System in the Room

Regular readers of this blog know what an advocate I am for large group meetings and the idea of getting the 'whole system' in the room.

Here's a systematic approach for doing that - best done with a couple of others or even a formal planning group:

1. Clarify your purpose. The system can only be defined in the context of a task or purpose.

2. Brainstorm everybody who has Authority, Resources, Expertise, Information, Need in the context of the purpose.

3. Based on the brainstormed list, identify the key stakeholder groups. These groups represent a subsystems within the whole system. (By way of example, a recent Chamber of Commerce that I worked with came up with the following groups in the context of developing a strategic plan - Chamber members, Chamber Board and staff, local non-member businesses, other local business associations, government and education.)

4. With the benefit of your stakeholder groups, go back over the brainstormed list and ensure that all of the stakeholder groups have reasonable representation. If there are any groups low in numbers, think further about important stakeholders within that group who should be added to the list.

5.  Look at the group and ensure demographic diversity. Do we have a good mix of genders, ages, cultures and so on. Again, these decisions need to be made in the context of the identified purpose.

Once you have done each of these, you will have the whole system. It takes a little work but if you are dealing with an important task, its well worth the effort. The benefit of engaging the whole system is greater differentiation, diversity, creativity and therefore greater development.