Design thinking provides tools and solutions to help structure complexity and present it in a way that best utilises the human brain. This article is part of our series on stress resilience and mental health at work..
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Change is the new normal
Trying to get your head around complexity can be very stressful.
The emerging future makes things more complex in a number of ways.
- Technological advance introduces complexity through its ability to incorporate greater capability into smaller spaces
- The exponential growth of information through data generation and the empowerment of self-publication
- The ability to link everybody and everything at all times and in all places, and the tendency to do so
- The increased level of connections and networks as organisations seek to keep ahead of all this and build synergy
- The way strength is built by building things together to use all of its potential to achieve the best result
the brain was not built for this level of complexity
The problem is that our heads were not built to handle all of this stuff in this way. And the more we rely on our heads to do so, the more likely we are to forget important connections, and make mistakes, and find we have to rethink things – which creates further stress. Or worse still, we ignore those mistakes, and create problems for people ‘down the chain’. This creates further stress for them, and is the main cause of silo behaviours.Even within a single organisation, the connection between people, roles, department, strategies, policies, processes, systems, structures, practices, projects, initiatives, culture, values, IP, regulations, customers, suppliers, contracts, training, data, etc., can be overwhelming.
structuring complexity is key to success
And yet, it is the creation and quality of those various connections that determine the organisation’s success. Furthermore, it is the rapid shifting of some of those connections that enables agility. Which increasingly determines our ability to sustain that success.
So how do we reconcile these two things? The organisation’s need to embrace complexity to sustain success. And the neural limitations of the people who are required to be the architects of that. How do we do this without breaking people?
can we engage effectively with complexity without putting people’s mental health at risk?
There is no ‘going back’ to normal
In the past, things were reasonably stable, and strategies could be cascaded down from the top of the organisation. Jobs remained fairly static, and people could pretty much get on with them year on year in the same way. The key connections the organisation required were largely integrated into routines and habit.However, it was still a motivational benefit to know why your job mattered. It gave you a place in the team. A feeling of pride and engagement. It helped you make sense of the corporate communications you received. And, on occasion, it helped you accept the change initiatives that swept through intermittently.
But now, if it is stable, it is going to change.
if it is stable, it is going to change
Much of the routine in people’s roles will be automated with bots and AI. Which is good, because that will give them more time to spend on thinking through the bits that aren’t routine. The increasing level of internal requests, and product/service changes. The technology that is evolving with each update. The special projects where they need someone with your experience. The requests for new ideas. The new agile ways of working. The scrums and self-managed work groups.Change can no longer be controlled from the top
Because now change is happening so fast, they cannot cope with making all of the decisions from the top. There are too many. And it takes too long to cascade them down. People need to see the opportunities for themselves. They need to make their own decisions. They need to respond, and adapt, and fit in to fast changing configurations.And to do that efficiently, without risking mental health at work issues, yes, they need to know how it all fits together. Or perhaps, if we put it another way: The extent to which they know their part in how it all fits together will determine:
- How quickly and economically they can respond to what is needed
- The quality of their relationships and support with those around them
- Their ability to perform effectively in agile work teams to implement change
- The impact of their ideas and creativity on enabling the organisation to perform
- Their confidence and enthusiasm for doing what is required
- Their resilience in coping with what might otherwise be a very stressful situation
but if things are becoming more complex, how do we do that?
What can we take from those who cope well with complex change?
One other group of people who have to do all of the above in highly complex and fast evolving situations are design engineers. Take the design of a frigate, an aircraft, an oilrig, a computer system. There is far too much detail for any one person to hold it all together. It is a challenge to juggle the implications of change in one part across all the others.
So, since the early 1960s, Engineers have been devising design tools to handle all of that complexity for them. To structure complexity, and enable them to then focus on specific subsets within that. In this way, the overall system of connections can be complex. But the application of human thinking and creativity can be simplified. The design tool enables the engineer to work at different levels of abstraction. The structure of the tool breaks down complexity, but maintains the relationships. It keeps all of the connections as context and simplifies (decouples) the problems within it.design tools structure complexity and make complex change brain friendly
In this way, it configures specific challenges such that human brains (particularly working together) can best solve them. And enables people to bring the best of their creativity, insight and experience to bear. Thereby improving their mental wellbeing.
And as business has become more complex and fast moving also, we are now seeing those tools appear in the business space. This began back in the 2000’s (See the Wikipedia timeline on Design thinking; my own contribution to this, Managing by Design, was published in 2002).
but that doesn’t mean everyone is adopting them
However, for the sake of their people, and their survival, now would be a good time to begin to look look more seriously at how to structure complexity.
How to structure complexity and reduce stress
Take a look at applying design thinking to how you effect organisational change. Use the Design Thinking tools to help you structure complexity, and help your people engage with it. Doing so will create a recognisable and communicable logic for change, and enable people to far more quickly see what it means for them and why- Use strategy engagement matrices to map out how all of the parts of your organisation leverage your goals. This will not only allow you to see the opportunities better, and to design more efficient combinations. It will also enable the various parts of your organisation to see their responsibilities, to map out their own matrices, and to recognise the opportunities for synergy and support at their level and below. The strategic engagement matrix is an excellent tool for quickly mapping and understanding the implications of change.
- Use thinking and design tools as integral parts of your meetings both helps establish and reinforce the current logic, and also equips people with skills and resources by which they can more reliably make and cascade resulting decisions at their own level
- Use virtual whiteboards in conjunction with the above. This will enable you to establish persistent project walls of the current logic. And, as a result, you will be able to more easily explained that logic to newcomers. You will also be able to more readily edit and adapt it as the situation changes and new opportunities emerge
The result of adopting these approaches will not only enable you to develop more effective strategies and solutions for your organisation. It will create an environment in which a greater sense of meaning enriches people’s work. A workplace where goal clarity empowers them to move forward and to contribute. And where alignment around those goals helps build good relationships between people. And the alignment and relationships helps break down silo thinking.
goal clarity empowers
The impact of structuring complexity on mental health at work
The result of structuring complexity from the perspective of the individual will be much healthier:
- Workloads will reduce as more of it becomes productive. As a result people will have more time to think and reflect.
- Interactions with others will be more efficient and helpful. And so supportive relationships can more easily form. This is good for mental health at work.
- And the resulting increased trust will enable people to be more open and get help when they need it.
- People will more readily see that what they are doing matters. And so people will feel more confident in themselves through the progress they are making.
- Stress will drop down to productive and creative levels. And as a result people will feel more relaxed.
- Greater efficiency and productivity will provide more opportunity to think and establish control.
- And as a result of all of this, you will improve your people’s mental health at work.
Author: Mike Clargo | Culturistics
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Relevant Links:
Daily re-restructuring for agility? How adaptive structures maximise agile engagement.
Culture eats strategy for breakfast – but what sort of strategy are you feeding it?
Facilitating mental wellbeing – The power of adventure in keeping our minds fit & healthy.
Patterns of collaborative excellence – Rediscovering the lost wisdom of design.
Prescient emotional knowledge management – do you have what it takes?
Culture eats strategy for breakfast – but what sort of strategy are you feeding it?
Facilitating mental wellbeing – The power of adventure in keeping our minds fit & healthy.
Patterns of collaborative excellence – Rediscovering the lost wisdom of design.
Prescient emotional knowledge management – do you have what it takes?
