Who is to blame?

When someone makes an expensive mistake, it’s easy to react. 

“Who is to blame?” 
“Who do they report to?” 
“How did you let this happen?"

Blaming someone isn’t difficult. Sometimes the person themselves thinks it’s their fault. 

But a more useful question might be:

“Which system allowed this to happen?”

Quite often we already know there are flaws in the system. Or there’s no system where there should be one. Yes, there are always exceptions, but dig deep enough and often there’s a sub-optimal system somewhere.

What is a system?

Systems are everywhere. Some we recognize as systems, such as the accounts payable system, or the payroll system. They have names and often have software to make them work. 

Other systems are less obvious, or even invisible.

Think about how you start your day. Is that a system? 

It doesn’t have a name and may or may not involve software. You might start by switching on your computer, scanning your email for important messages, figure out what’s urgent or outstanding, then decide what you want to achieve that day. 

That’s a system, just not an obvious one. 

Systems thinker Daniel Kim defines a system as:

“Any group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent parts 

that form a complex and unified whole that has a specific purpose.”

That definition gives us four things:

• Parts – different elements within the system, including people.
• Relationships – how the parts interact and depend on one another. 
• A unified whole – a recognizable system with boundaries and outcomes. 
• Purpose – its reason for existing.

It’s a decent starting point when figuring out whether something is a system or not. Not whether it’s a good system, just whether it’s a system.

Identify the system that’s to blame

Once you can identify and recognize a system, you can start to improve it. You can optimize it, fix it, or create a system. 

Preventing the same mistake happening again may be more important than playing the blame game. Well-designed systems help people do a good job, not just once but every time. Which is worth a lot.

Poorly designed systems make mistakes possible or inevitable.

Start with objectives

A system that delivers the intended business benefits starts by understanding the system you're trying to improve. Only then do you decide whether the answer is new software, better data, improved reporting, applying AI, or a better way of working.

That's how we've always approached projects, and it's why we start every discussion with the same question:

“What are you trying to achieve?”

We are software engineers who specialize in implementing Microsoft technologies. Only by understanding what you are trying to achieve can we design a system that is right for your objectives and your organisation. For us this is fundamental, and in the long run will be a major factor in the success of the system. 

If you are concerned that some aspect of your systems is letting you down, get in touch. It costs nothing to find out if our skills could help.