Systems Savvy — Do You Have It?
Systems Savvy is the ability to grasp the capabilities of a technology and how that technology might be meshed with organizational practice. People with systems savvy understand that technologies and practices are intertwined — and they know how to make adjustments to both the technology and the practice to effectively weave them together.
Who has systems savvy? I suspect all the readers of this blog have some degree of systems savvy. However, there are folks whose efforts and thinking make them excellent models for all of us:
- Brian Humphrey, LA Fire Department
- MIT Professor Pattie Mae and Ph.D. Candidate Pranav Mistry
- Tony Hsieh, Zappos
- John Seely Brown, past Chief Scientist at Xerox and past Director of the Palo Alto Research Center
My examples in this blog tend to focus on information technology, but systems savvy also applies to industrial and other technologies. For example the first person who thought about how farm chemicals might be more safely, cheaply, and effectively applied by “plug-and play” direct connectors (versus farmers having to fill, mix, and refill their spreaders by hand) also had systems savvy. Technology possibilities provided opportunities for better, safer, practice — but these had to be realized and implemented by people with systems savvy.
Deep technical or organizational expertise is not required for systems savvy. It’s an appreciation of the possible… which might even be limited by deep expertise if people instead anchor on present uses.
A degree of systems savvy is critical to both technical and organizational designers. Systems designers (the people that design the technologies we use) with systems savvy can design the technology with “triggers” to help others better understand the possible uses of their technology. For example, IDEO and Kaiser Permanente co-designed an information board that helps new parents and nurses keep track of the “journey home” following the birth of the baby. The technology had clearly “flippable” cards (designating whether the step was completed or not), a whiteboard surface and pen, and clearly marked areas for adding information. The design makes clear that cards can be reordered, should be flipped as steps occur, and provides a clear dashboard of the process.
Your Journey Home Board
Organizational designers with systems savvy can imagine how not-yet invented technologies might help their organizations effectiveness and efficiency, and ask for such technologies to be designed. Hilton Hotels issued a Request for Proposals last year asking for “game” tools to help them show employees how different actions can affect a guest’s mood. Hilton’s training exec David Kervella saw the value in a particular technology form, but had to get technical experts to help him realize the vision.
My ideas on systems savvy are a work in progress and I would appreciate your comments. Some earlier stages in this evolution include:
- Systems conductivity (here & here)
- Accidental systems designers
- Mental models of systems
I hope to spend some of my summer interviewing people who have demonstrated systems savvy. Beside those I note above, who else do you think has systems savvy? Personal introductions appreciated.
TweetTags: design thinking, IDEO, John Seely Brown, Kaiser, PARC, Systems Savvy, Tony Hsieh, zappos
36 Responses
May 22nd, 2009 at 5:02 pm
[...] Moss Kanter shows her privacy systems savvy in her new post Don’t Read This, It’s Private to HarvardBusiness.org’s Voices [...]
May 27th, 2009 at 9:49 am
[...] I said in my last post, understanding the dimensions of privacy is part of developing our systems savvy. The use of false identity is a violation of privacy in that you are not being given true [...]
June 15th, 2009 at 4:51 am
[...] but “general education.” Basically, I think Mr. Nussbaum and I are both saying that systems savvy and design skills are critical for all of us, and need to be included in broad-based educational [...]
July 15th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
[...] Systems Savvy is the “ability to grasp the capabilities of a technology and how that technology might be meshed with organizational practice. People with systems savvy understand that technologies and practices are intertwined — and they know how to make adjustments to both the technology and the practice to effectively weave them together.” [...]
August 16th, 2009 at 10:58 am
[...] so “savvy” that we have Trip-It automatically linked to our Google Calendars, that automatically update [...]
September 10th, 2009 at 9:41 am
[...] Brainstorm story is an example of systems savvy and ongoing TOP Management — and goes to show that you don’t have to have decades of [...]
September 13th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
[...] see this as an example of Loic’s systems savvy and TOP Management skills. Clearly he understands the technologies involved and the strategic [...]
October 5th, 2009 at 4:51 am
[...] I’d contacted Mr. Lawrence as part of an on-going project to create a measure of Systems Savvy. His background in government regulations, volunteer organization, aircraft construction, and [...]
October 20th, 2009 at 6:58 am
[...] Inc. He was kind enough to provide me with several examples of how he’s been able to develop Systems Savvy and how this plays out as TOP Management at [...]
October 30th, 2009 at 7:13 am
[...] they wouldn’t have thought of doing it any other way). But here’s the key: Eugene has systems savvy and quickly saw the value of the approach. He didn’t immediately post a recall. He certainly [...]
November 12th, 2009 at 11:40 am
[...] approach to a complex problem. Sometimes systems savvy means using elegant, but less high tech systems. Comments appreciated describing other [...]
January 28th, 2010 at 4:50 am
[...] & Ross’ new book, IT Savvy, jumped out at me given my colleagues’ and my work on Systems Savvy. I find IT Savvy to be a beautiful, more organizational-level, companion to Systems [...]
March 9th, 2010 at 11:47 am
[...] This acknowledgment of the need to manage all three factors at once is a demonstration of their systems savvy — their ability to weave together three separate strands to create a stronger and more [...]
March 29th, 2010 at 4:49 am
[...] practices, with an understanding of the skills and needs of the people involved. Megan is a systems savvy leader and helps others develop this capability as she promotes change in the organization. Like many [...]
April 6th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
[...] People drawing on their systems savvy (the ability to see the opportunities and challenges in both our technology tools and [...]
April 8th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
[...] my perspective this is a strong example of systems savvy. Not only are these enterprise partners managing the technology to get us to electric hybrid [...]
April 14th, 2010 at 9:27 am
[...] collaborators about my preference for working via collaboration platforms. I strive to use my systems savvy and explicitly consider the technical and organizational realities with each group. I’ve sent [...]
April 19th, 2010 at 5:32 am
[...] had the great pleasure of meeting Ben Kepes to talk about systems savvy – peoples’ capability for seeing and weaving together technical and organizational [...]
April 22nd, 2010 at 7:33 am
[...] of my goals with this blog is to help people acknowledge their systems savvy. We all have systems savvy to the extent that we are able to understand both technical and [...]
April 26th, 2010 at 7:08 am
[...] great if you have systems savvy. It’s even better if you practice it in public. Systems savvy starts with the ability to see and understand the possibilities of all the technical and [...]
May 6th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
[...] – wherever they are and with whatever tools they have. Perhaps we need to demonstrate our systems savvy and systems responsibility to be earn this flexibility? Suggestions or examples of how to do [...]
May 13th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
[...] great ideas and comments during the panel, but the tool one most vividly rang true to my systems savvy focus. The idea is that you shouldn’t focus on the technology. The technology is just one [...]
June 1st, 2010 at 7:29 am
[...] with systems savvy understand technical and organizational opportunities, and have the ability to weave them together [...]
June 3rd, 2010 at 7:17 am
[...] Center of Everett, Washington and how I see their innovations as evidence of organization-wide systems savvy. That is, their efforts show that they understand both technical and organizational opportunities, [...]
June 10th, 2010 at 4:39 am
[...] systems savvy in organizations often means helping others develop this capability for seeing both technical and [...]
June 24th, 2010 at 11:05 am
[...] interesting use cases, and discussions of integration with other tools. There were high levels of systems savvy at play as people talked about how they used the Evernote technology for work and home and how they [...]
July 8th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
[...] Zappos seems to have found a way to help others develop culture savvy. Culture savvy, like systems savvy, is a complex area of organizational expertise that is often learned by experience and challenge, [...]
July 12th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
[...] intuition is that the practice of lean startup is another example of systems savvy. Derek Dukes, Eric Ries, and Steve Blank see the value in taking a step back and assessing the [...]
July 21st, 2010 at 8:27 pm
[...] That statistic, 30 standards, 30 months (recall this is a voluntary process) and the resulting creation of an industry around this new form of recreational aircraft lead me to stamp the process with the TOP Management sticker of approval. The task itself focused on technical issues of aircraft design and manufacturing, organizational issues of certification, and the realities of the people involved in terms of weight and risk assessment. The process also involved TOP Management: on-line support of pre-meeting work, identification of stakeholders, and balloting; the ASTM organizational process of consensus and balance; and the ability to draw out perspectives from all stakeholders. Dan’s management of this process (and all the varied committees he supports) suggested a high level of personal systems savvy. [...]
August 1st, 2010 at 10:29 am
[...] For more of Stewart Mader’s thoughts, follow his blog, Future Changes. Also, please stand by for a post here based on a recent meeting I had with Stewart about systems savvy. [...]
August 1st, 2010 at 10:32 am
[...] and then weave them into strong and dynamic organizational design is what distinguishes people with Systems Savvy. Systems Savvy may be the most powerful skill we have in modern organizations. Systems Savvy [...]
August 1st, 2010 at 10:37 am
[...] (Technology, Organization, People) management requires systems savvy – the ability to grasp the capabilities of a technology and how that technology might be meshed [...]
August 1st, 2010 at 10:45 am
[...] issue is control and self-determination — having the systems savvy to make effective decisions for ourselves — both at home and in our messages to our elected [...]
August 2nd, 2010 at 6:47 am
[...] their service goals while still managing costs. The iterations they’ve gone through show deep systems savvy driven by their focus on delivering a Wow! experience to their customers, as well as great shoes [...]
August 9th, 2010 at 7:35 am
[...] seems to need more systems savvy. Systems savvy management is the opposite of a silver bullet approach. Like the woven fibers of a bullet-proof vest, [...]
September 1st, 2010 at 6:29 pm
[...] powerful, appropriately balanced, whole. I call people who have the skill to do this balancing “systems savvy managers” and I’m fortunate to get to highlight their examples in this [...]