Understanding organisations using ‘systems-thinking’ is well established, so what prevents us from turning the organisation into a ‘thinking-system’?

What do adaptive lean principles tell us about the way we need to design, build and operate modern businesses? Can we design organizations that are adaptive, innovative and engaging for employees and customers alike? Can we really change work climates in reasonably short time-frames?

The organisational climate is the combined perceptions, feelings and behaviours of customers, staff, managers and leaders.  Extensive research has proven the link between the work climate and overall operational performance, and demonstrates that climate is a predictor of an organisation’s long- term profitability. So what insights can we gain that will help us design and manage organisations as a ‘system’ and help transform an organisation into a ‘Thinking-System’?

This presentation, based on the most recent research from work psychology, will provide counter- intuitive insights into the ‘industrial management’ mind set, its impact on the design of work and management behaviours. We will examine how we can design back in the employees’ willing contribution to establish a real human enterprise that leads to long-term prosperity.

Stephen Parry is a passionate leader recognised internationally as an authority on the creation of lean service enterprises. He has applied ‘lean service’ principles to the design and operation of corporations around the world.  He is the author of Sense and Respond: The Journey to Customer Purpose (Palgrave 2005) and a Senior Partner at Lloyd Parry, Europe’s leading lean and adaptive service specialist, providing services to many FTSE 500 companies. His transformation work is the feature of a BBC documentary, The Crunch: Creativity, Innovation and Change, last broadcast in April 2007, and he is often interviewed on national media for his views on outsourcing and customer service issues. Stephen is a service strategy research advisor at the Customer Contact Association research council, and a judge at the National Business Awards and the Customer Experience Awards.