Project Manager

System Thinking in Action 

 “In my experience most troubles and most possibilities for improvement add up to the proportions something like this:

94% belongs to the system (responsibility of management), 6% special.” — W. Edwards Deming, Out of the Crisis (2000, MIT Press) [p. 270]

 “Information, no matter how complete and speedy, is not knowledge.” — W. Edwards Deming, The New Economics (2018, MIT Press) [p. 72]

In transformation programs, I’ve learned that:

1)94% of outcomes are shaped by the system — processes, structures, culture, and leadership decisions.

2)6% depend on individuals or exceptions — but we often focus disproportionately on these.

3)Information ≠ Knowledge — without context, interpretation, and application, information cannot drive real improvement.

As leaders, our role is not only to manage tasks but to engineer environments where teams thrive:

a)Build systems that reduce friction and increase flow.

b)Convert data into knowledge that informs better decisions.

c)Create feedback loops that embed learning into daily execution.

Evanescence’s “Wake Me Up” is the soundtrack I chose for this reflection — a reminder that awareness must lead to action.

I’ll leave you with a question: How often do you step back to improve the system, instead of fixing isolated problems?

#ProjectManagement #ChangeManagement #BusinessAnalysis #Deming #SystemThinking #Leadership #ContinuousImprovement