Systems Thinking for GDFI Leaders
Recently, Global Dominion Financing Inc. managers and officers completed a Systems Thinking session facilitated by The Rizal Academy for Innovation and Leadership. Systems Thinking, as defined by the author Peter Senge, integrates the various parts of the system in a way that maximizes organizational effectiveness to provide different ways of looking at problems and goals as components of larger structures. It provides visual and analytical tools to assist organizations in effectively dealing with and adapting to change.
The exercise included group efforts, collaboration, visualization, realization, and a lot of asking questions, that cultivated the participants’ wisdom in facing challenges through understanding different conceptual frameworks, learning disciplines, systems archetypes, and analytical tools. It has also opened the eyes of our organization’s leaders to the habits of a systems thinker, which includes but not limited to:
- surfacing and testing assumptions
- making meaningful connections within and between systems
- changing perspectives to increase understanding
- seeking to understand the big picture
- considering how mental models affect current reality and the future
The GDFI leaders grouped into 8 project teams, all covering the essential aspects of a modern-time financial institution in the Philippines:
- People Development
- Product Development
- Process Improvement
- Digital Marketing
- Monitoring Systems
- Customer Experience
- Retention
- Collections
Output from the 3-day session has been put together and carefully analyzed for potential execution. “We were overwhelmed by the outstanding discoveries and proposals coming from the team, given the short time and limited bandwidth. We’re glad that we’ve made the most out of the exercise and believe that we’ve helped a lot from our team realize answers to our questions which are highly executable,” said Jeric Cornejo, GDFI Assistant General Manager.
The Rizal Academy for Innovation and Leadership (TRAIL) is an educational initiative from leaders of Business, Civil Society and Government intended to offer executive training programs and technical support for change agents and innovative leaders, wishing to continue Rizal’s work for structural reforms which he started in Dapitan. Like Rizal, students enrolled in TRAIL will think up creative solutions to address the root causes for the current economic, ecological, social and spiritual crises the world is facing today.
TRAIL is the local partner of the Presencing Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, a global awareness-based action research university for profound societal innovation and change.
For inquiries about this write up, please email cpguanzon@gdfi.ph.
