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August 16, 2001 Issue 15



"I don't divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures, those who make it or those who don't. I divide the world into learners and non-learners."
—Benjamin Barber, educator

"The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious."
—Theodore Levitt, author




Pre- and Post-Conference Skill-Building Sessions

Whether you participate in a pre-or a post-conference session—or both—you are guaranteed to make the most out of your investment and travel budget. In two days, conference participants can customize and deepen their learning by including these workshops in their conference schedule. Below are the offerings:

Pre-Conference
—Simplifying Complexity with Systems Thinking
—Using Systems Thinking to Facilitate Organizational Change
—Facilitating Reflective Conversation
—Optimizing Team Performance with Systems Thinking
—The Purpose and Vision Toolkit: A Bridge Between Personal Mastery and Group Mastery

Post-Conference
—Healthcare Community Forum
—Forum on Education
—So What Do I Do on Monday Morning? Taking the Conference Back to Work
—Why Modeling? Enriching Your Systems Thinking Skills with Simulation Modeling
—Personal Sustainability in Organizational Complexity: A Weekend Retreat

More Conference information


Awards Given at 2001 International Conference of the System Dynamics Society

At this year's conference, the System Dynamics Society bestowed the prestigious Jay W. Forrester Award on Professor Peter Milling of Universität Mannheim for his paper "Modeling Innovation Processes for Decision Support and Management Simulation."The recipient received a commemorative plaque and $5,000.

The Society has also started offering the Dana Meadows Award for best student paper. The award's first recipients are Hazhir Rahmandad and Joao Vieira da Cunha for their paper "Tightening the Iron Cage or Path Dependence in Norm Formation? A System Dynamics Approach." They received $500 and are eligible to receive up to $500 more toward travel expenses for next year's conference.

More on the System Dynamics Society


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Pegasus Communications provides resources that help people explore, understand, articulate, and address the challenges they face in the complexities of a changing world. Since 1989, Pegasus has worked to build a community of practitioners through The Systems Thinker® newsletter, books, audio and videotapes, and its annual Systems Thinking in Action® Conference and other events.
LEARNING LINKS
We Are All Self-Employed
FACE TO FACE
A Systemic Approach to Creating a New South Africa:
An Interview with Wendy Luhabe
FROM THE FIELD
Customer Czars Shake Things Up
 




LEARNING LINKS
We Are All Self-Employed
by Cliff Hakim

As more and more companies cope with financial pressures by laying off workers, almost everyone's job is a potential target. Those who want to survive and thrive in today's unstable employment arena need to acquire not only new skills but a new attitude—the self-employed mentality. This requires a shift from seeing oneself as a "job seeker" working "for" an organization to becoming a "partner" who works "with" an organization. Such partners think and act independently and yet also collaborate with others; combined, these actions help individuals grow personally while adding value to their organization.

How can you develop a self-employed mentality? First, don't wait for the boom to drop. Instead, begin to clarify the assets you bring not just to your company but to the marketplace, keep an up-to-date resume, research industry information, and network with colleagues. Learn to articulate your strengths and values in ways that align you with the company's goals. Such self-leadership can lead to greater opportunities within the organization. This process works even if you've already been laid off, although in that case, you must deal with greater ambiguity. Making ambiguity your ally, however, can expose you to new pathways. For example, after losing his job, a press photographer embarked on a new career by combining his underutilized writing talent with taking pictures.

True, a self-employed mentality puts the onus on individuals to cultivate employment opportunities: You must understand both your own goals and what prospective companies need. But making these incremental efforts is what enables you to create your ideal employment situation.

Read the complete article. Readers who wish to discuss this topic are invited to The New Workplace forum.
 



FACE TO FACE
A Systemic Approach to Creating a New South Africa:
An Interview with Wendy Luhabe

Wendy Luhabe has been recognized as one of South Africa's most powerful women and one of the world's leading female entrepreneurs. After 10 years in BMW's marketing division, she founded a human resources management consultancy, Bridging the Gap. In 1994, she launched Women Investment Portfolio Holdings. Wendy serves on numerous corporate and foundation boards and has been honored by several international groups, including the World Economic Forum. In January 2000, she was featured in a group of likely candidates to be South Africa's first female president.

Recently, Wendy spoke with Dawna Markova about how South Africa is using a systemic perspective to address its complex societal challenges. Dawna is cofounder of Professional Thinking Partners and author of the recently published book I Will Not Die an Unlived Life. Below are excerpts of their conversation:

Creating Conditions That Support Large-Scale Change
Dawna Markova: My friend, there has been so much fragmentation and polarization in your country, yet you speak of living with a systemic view of the issues and challenges. Can you share a story of how your country is learning to do that?

Wendy Luhabe: South Africa's miraculous transition to democracy—when the only experience its people had of governance was bloodshed—was a testament to the fact that, as a nation, we are no longer prepared to support fragmentation and polarization as a way of life. People stood in queues for hours waiting to vote and put their mark toward creating a new society, a collaborative future, and a commitment to a shared destiny. We know what hasn't worked. Creating a new nation has allowed us to confront issues, find solutions, experiment, and remain open to learning. Continued

Wendy Luhabe is a keynote speaker at this year's Systems Thinking in Action® Conference. Dawna Markova is speaking about her new book at the conference during Authors' Night.
 



FROM THE FIELD
Customer Czars Shake Things Up

Do companies need a chief customer officer (CCO) to handle greater global demand for customer satisfaction? Some CEOs think so. The last decade has seen a growing number of businesses, particularly technology start-ups, create special executive positions to ensure that substantive decisions revolve around the customer. How useful are these customer czars and will more established organizations add them to their customer strategy? The answers mostly depend on a company's size, customer satisfaction ratings, and risk tolerance.

Customer czars shake things up, particularly by lobbying to top management for quality improvement. Focused more on customer retention than acquisition, some try to develop systems that facilitate communication with clients. For instance, NuEdge's COO Ted Uczen put together a team to observe users of his company's customer software and incorporate feedback into future designs. Others, such as Douglas Allred, Cisco Systems' senior vice president of customer advocacy, focus on satisfaction ratings. In eight months, Allred reduced Cisco's order fulfillment from 12 to 3 weeks; he also helped tie managers' compensation to customer contentment.

For CCOs to succeed, however, they need the full backing of their CEOs and substantial credibility in their organization. Tasked with influencing areas for which they're not functionally responsible, they must be adept at managing interdepartmental relationships. Most important, the company should be ready to handle radical change. Trying to alter established structures can antagonize executives or departments that perceive customer service as their responsibility. Ultimately, when trying to improve customer satisfaction, unless you need to rattle your organization, you may want to consider alternatives before appointing a customer czar.

Source: Steve Ulfelder, "Do You Really Need a Customer Czar?", Darwin, May 2001.

Readers who wish to discuss this topic are invited to the Systems Thinking forum.
 



  Copyright 2001 Pegasus Communications. LEVERAGE POINTS™ can be freely distributed in its entirety or reproduced or excerpted for another publication with written permission from Pegasus Communications. Contact permissions@pegasuscom.com.