“Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.” This observation by American engineer W. Edwards Deming has profound implications no matter where or how you apply it.
It’s Truth with a capital “T”. Permanent, universal, reliable.
Three major implications always come to mind for me:
- My results (good, bad, or average) are always a reflection of my system.
- If I want to continue producing great results, then I need to keep my systems in great shape because every system breaks down over time, usually a lot faster than I thought.
- If I want to change or improve my results, then I need to affect my system in a meaningful way.
You can apply this systems thinking to anything. I believe it’s the most important first step to overcome the frustrating sense of feeling stuck and confused about why things aren’t getting better.
Look at your systems. The answers are in there. What you do about it is entirely up to you.
Everything is training for something. Do the work.
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