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Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

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2. Variables should be<br />

something th<strong>at</strong> can be<br />

measured—quantities th<strong>at</strong><br />

can vary over time. It does<br />

not make sense to say th<strong>at</strong><br />

―St<strong>at</strong>e of Mind‖ increases<br />

or decreases. A term like<br />

―Happiness,‖ on the other<br />

hand, can vary.<br />

3. Choosing the ―positive‖<br />

sense of a variable name<br />

is preferable. An increase<br />

or decrease in ―Growth‖ is<br />

clearer than an increase or<br />

decrease in ―Contraction.‖<br />

Loop Construction<br />

4. For every course of action<br />

included in the diagram,<br />

think of the possible<br />

unintended consequences<br />

as well as he expected<br />

outcomes. An increase in<br />

―Production Pressure‖ may<br />

increase ―Production<br />

Output,‖ <strong>for</strong> example, but it<br />

may also increase ―St ress‖<br />

and decrease ―Quality.‖<br />

5. All balancing loops are<br />

goal-seeking processes.<br />

Try to make goals driving<br />

the loop explicit. For<br />

example, Loop B1 may<br />

raise questions as to why<br />

increasing ―Quality‖ would<br />

lead to a decrease in<br />

―Actions to Improve<br />

Quality.‖ By explicitly<br />

identifying ―Desired<br />

Quality‖ as the goal in<br />

Loop B2, we see th<strong>at</strong> the<br />

―Gap in Quality‖ is really<br />

driving improvement<br />

actions.<br />

C-26<br />

©2011 W<strong>at</strong>er Research Found<strong>at</strong>ion. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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