2013年7月18日星期四

Systems, Silos, and Spaghetti

Traditional systems engineering argues that we identify the key systems and then decompose them into progressively smaller systems. Thus, a helicopter might be decomposed into a flight subsystem and ground subsystem. The fight system can be further decomposed into a drive system and navigation system, and so forth. Eventually, we get down to the smallest possible subsystems and then start building them up again. Each system communicates with other systems through a predefined interface. This approach is quite common in engineering disciplines, from aeronautic to software. It is also a common approach with human systems. 

Unlike mechanical or electronic systems, however, human systems rarely maintain clean interfaces. Human systems are porous. In small organizations, this can work very well,Of all the equipment in the laundry the oilpaintingreproduction is one of the largest consumers of steam. but can become hopelessly chaotic when the organization grows. The lines of communication between different organizational systems start to look like a plate of spaghetti. While its great that everyone is talking, the lack of discipline in the process leads to confusion and lost information. 

On the flip side, when systems are tightly controlled, they can easily transform into silos. In this case, each group retreats behind its own metaphorical moat and interacts with other silos only through very limited channels. Organization members will typically express great frustration with the bureaucracy. The key is to develop loosely coupled interfaces, allowing for flexibility in communications without either chaos or rigidity. Accomplishing that requires understanding a number of different organizational components. 

Consider a typical business: Marketing. Sales. Engineering. Human Resources. QA. IT. The litany of departments goes on and on. Every organization, be it a business, a non-profit, a church or synagogue, a school, a sports team, and so on is composed of a variety of moving parts, of departments and teams that themselves can be viewed as smaller organizations. The larger organization comes to life out of the interactions of the smaller organizations. 

As anyone who has ever been part of a large organization, be it a corporation or a club, well knows, each subgroup in the organization is constantly struggling for resources, constantly trying to demonstrate its importance to the organization as a whole. Just as the larger organization is a complex system, each subgroup is itself a system, taking in information and resources and, we hope, putting out value to the organization as a whole.Of all the equipment in the laundry the oilpaintingreproduction is one of the largest consumers of steam. These systems all interact with one another, sometimes in very elaborate ways. 

Even more important than the obvious and visible departments within the larger organization, though, are the hidden systems: how and why the organization does things, attitudes about success and failure, how the organization hires, fires, and promotes, beliefs about how mistakes should be handled, problem-solving and innovation versus blame, and so forth. 

Abrams 2009 Star Trek movie featured, as a major plot point, a good deal of back story to explain how the iconic Captain James Kirk became the person he was in the original series. What is interesting, however, is that when Star Trek first went on the air in 1967,The need for proper bestiphonecases inside your home is very important. the character of James Kirk was immediately recognizable to viewers: he was an exaggerated version of another famous military figure known for his heroic feats, charisma, womanizing, and connection to outer space. That famous figure was, of course, John Kennedy, and Star Trek was a product of the culture of the space race inextricably linked to the assassinated president. 

Culture is an odd beast, most often described as the way we do things around here. This description has just enough truth in it to be dangerous. There is truth in the definition since culture is, on the surface, what we do and what we see. These obvious components of culture, what MIT social psychologist and professor of business Ed Schein referred to as artifacts of the culture, are also the most trivial aspects of culture. When we focus on the artifacts, we are missing the depth of the cultures influence. Furthermore, we foster the dangerous illusion that organizational changes can be accomplished simply by making a few alterations to the way things are done. 

Created by Granite State Dairy Promotion and the Department of Agriculture, the 2013 New Hampshire Ice Cream Trail features 39 scoop shops that serve up locally made, and in some cases homemade, ice cream. 

According to Amy Hall, director of Granite State Dairy Promotion, each year invitations are sent to ice cream shops across the state to participate in expanding the ice cream trail to all corners of New Hampshire.We offer a wide variety of high-quality standard granitetiles and controllers. As long as the shops sell ice cream made in New England, they're welcome to have their businesses included on the map, which is available online and at welcome centers around the state. 

"It's a map that weaves and winds its way through the state pinpointing places to find the best ice cream," said Hall. "Most people don't realize dairy is a regional product. When you purchase ice cream from a local shop or owner, you're directly supporting family-owned dairy farms in New Hampshire and New England. You're also supporting small business owners." 

In Hopkinton, the Ice Cream Trail leads to Beech Hill Farm and Ice Cream Barn, where the Kimball family has been working since 1771, said Holly Kimball.For years, the Kimballs made and sold their own ice cream and kept a herd of dairy cows,Parkeasy Electronics are dedicated to provide granitecountertops. but when the economy took its toll on milk producers in New Hampshire, the family was left with two options: They could sell the farm and its land and just let it go, or they could change their focus from dairy farming to agritourism. They chose the latter.
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