Seeing Systems

“System Blindness”

Living in a complex society or working within a large organization often means that you have a limited perspective and an incomplete view of the entire system. People at the top, middle or bottom of an organization – or among its customers – will find that their “systemic” position interferes with their judgment and evaluation. This confusion is called “spatial blindness.”

Whether you’re an employee, manager, voter, family member, worshipper or community member, you experience four roles or positions daily: top, bottom, middle and client. You may be at the bottom in societal power, at the top as a parent in your family, in the middle as a manager at work or a customer at your bowling alley. You may know your part, but you may not comprehend everything else that’s going on – including what drives other people in the system to behave as they do. You might not understand all the events and decisions that led to the conditions surrounding you. This “temporal blindness” combines with spatial blindness to create a void of misunderstanding and uncertainty, a condition most people dislike and avoid.

People react poorly to uncertainty and may feel ...