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Consensus Building through Systems Thinking Modelling A Case Study

Routinely, so much well-intentioned effort is thwarted and morale is destroyed in organisations because of the lack of commitment to decisions. The likelihood and consequence of this is greatest where divergent groups, ie, different divisions, department or units are involved. This paper discusses a Group Model Building case study using qualitative system dynamics to create consensus, team learning and shared vision in a public organisation. The case involves determining planning priorities for a division of the Ministry of Health in New Zealand, leading to the creation of a business plan. The methodology involves a three-step process starting with structured brainstorming using the partial KJ (Jiro Kawakita) technique to identify priority areas and clustering them into 'affinity' groups. Next, the priority clusters are condensed into 'variables' and used by the participants to construct causal loop diagrams representing 'systems of priorities' (in contrast to list of priorities). Finally, through a group process, leverage points or key priorities are identified and translated into a business plan. Strong group resistance was encountered at this stage when attempting to reduce the number of priority areas as suggested by the traditional priority matrix technique. Systems thinking approach was used to alleviate this problem. The approach offers significant promise in using qualitative system dynamics with nonsystems experts. The methodology can be applied to any change management initiative and complex decisions such as restructuring, reengineering, and supply chain design. The expected outcomes are greater commitment and shared vision.