You Can’t Fix a System by Improving Its Parts

Over the past months, I’ve had many conversations about operating models and how organisations try to improve them.

Again and again, I see the same pattern: people focus on fixing what’s in front of them, a process, a structure, a tool, a team. Locally, things often get better.

But every organisation is a system, a living network of people, processes, technology, and decisions that all influence one another.

When you change one part, something else moves too. And sometimes, the “improvement” in one area quietly creates a new problem somewhere else.

That’s the trap of local optimisation and the reason why Systems Thinking matters so much when designing or evolving an operating model.

Challenge 1: Local optimisation vs. system improvement

It’s easy to fix a local problem.

A team improves a process, automates a workflow, or clarifies roles. Locally, things get better, faster delivery, fewer meetings, happier people.

But viewed from the system level, that improvement sometimes makes things worse.

The process speeds up, but creates pressure somewhere else.

A new role solves one problem, but duplicates another.

We end up with a better part, but not a better whole.

Without Systems Thinking, organisations risk polishing fragments instead of improving flow end-to-end.

You can’t fix a system by improving its parts in isolation, just as you can’t fix traffic jams by only upgrading one intersection.

Challenge 2: Lack of system insight

Even when people want to apply Systems Thinking, they often lack the visibility to do it properly.

The truth is that many organisations don’t have a clear or up-to-date view of how their system actually works.

The Operating Model should serve as that blueprint, showing how organisation, processes, systems, people, performance, and governance fit together.

But if the model isn’t well described, or if daily practice has drifted away from it, then it’s like trying to renovate a complex building without a proper plan.

You might remove a wall to create more space, only to discover later it was a load-bearing one. That’s what happens when changes are made without understanding how the parts connect.

Why Systems Thinking belongs in the Operating Model

In my view, Systems Thinking is not an optional skill, it’s an essential mindset for anyone designing or evolving an operating model.

It helps you see relationships instead of fragments, causes instead of symptoms, and long-term flow instead of short-term fixes.

With Systems Thinking, you don’t just make changes, you orchestrate them.

You balance improvement with coherence.

And that’s exactly what makes an operating model come alive.

“The power of an organisation lies not in its parts, but in how those parts work together.”

We always welcome your experiences and feedback.