We live in exciting times for systems innovators. Advances in electronic communications, airline transportation, and international shipping, increasingly connect the lives of multiple individuals throughout the world. Such connective advances are part of a greater trend known as globalization. For the modern age, globalization includes the opening of commercial markets, increased free trade among nations, and increased education for a larger number of people. With globalization, what you do may influence events on the other side of the world.
With globalization, environments for organizations, both businesses and world governments, are becoming more complex. The reasons for this increased environmental complexity include “the four V's,” specifically:
- increased Volume (from local to global context in terms of transactions)
- increased Velocity (faster transactions between people)
- increased Volatility (organizations change and reorganize faster)
- increased concerns regarding Veracity (the truth is harder to distinguish)
For systems innovators, it is important to recognize this perspective of increased complexity. This perspective is important both because it presents opportunities to innovate – by addressing the complexities and challenges mentioned above – as well as the risks associated with not innovating. Failure to innovate in an increasing complex and interconnected world may mean that your organization, be it a business or government, might become irrelevant and outdated quickly.
Increased complexity also makes the job of a systems innovator a bit trickier: an innovative solution needs to account for increasing complex environment. What may seem to be a straightforward solution may have unintended effects on a system or other systems connected to a system.
This leads to a second important perspective: systems operate within systems. Specifically, our world is a system of multilayered, interconnected systems. Homes connect to gas, water, and electrical systems that link to other homes. Traveling exposes us to systems of highways, public transportation, trains, planes, and ocean-going ships.
A business is an organization comprised of multiple workers, interdependent in the tasks they perform. Within the organization, there may be a system of monitoring the funds received into and paid out by the business – and accounting system. This accounting system would include humans (managers and accountants), accounting data, processes for managing accounting data, rules for recording accounting data, as well as technology components. Within this accounting system may be another system: an information system running a computer program dedicated to tracking electronically the accounts of the organization. A systems innovator looking to improve the organization may focus on the system of the overarching organization itself, the accounting system, or the information system dedicated to tracking electronically the accounts of the organization.
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