The Performance Culture

CHAPTER 10Systems Practice

Anticipate and evaluate, map the flow, and keep systems supportive.

Systems can be sneaky. They are deceptively important for solving a problem once and for all, and at the same time notoriously difficult to get right. But they’re worth it, because when you identify and implement the right systems to support the desired behaviors, everyone is likely to feel the difference. Work gets more fluid, because the systems are nudging us in the direction that supports the optimal behaviors. Interactions are smoother because there’s less ambiguity around what matters to keep the behaviors central and alive. Projects seem to come together with fewer setbacks, because the effort to future-proof the project, before it’s even begun, creates greater seamlessness.

This Systems practice chapter is all about how to differentiate between a helpful system and an unhelpful one, along with how to communicate the systems you’re building to your new community of stakeholders and colleagues.

Before you implement any systems, however, it’s helpful to run a bit of a thought experiment, during which you once again pause and think about how what you’re building is going to affect others. As we’ve discussed, both fluid and fixed systems have a material impact on how others are able to get their work done, whether the desired behavior is made easier or more challenging, and to what degree you influence or bind people to certain actions. Before you deploy a system that you’ve ...