“Every system is perfectly designed to get the result that it does.” — attributed to W. Edwards Deming

What if failure isn’t a moral, motivational, or psychological problems? What if you’re stuck and acting like a broken record on your way towards a goal not because there’s something wrong with you, but because something else is off? What if the problem isn’t you–it’s your system? And if you’re stuck, it’s probably because you’re not even aware of having a system, or you don’t fully see the system.

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The systems paradigm is a way of seeing everything as systems: seeing the world in terms of workability, rather than psychology. And seeing that every system is perfect, for the result that it gets. And if you want a different result, simply put in a different system!

The systems paradigm is about action, not intention, identification, or what you’re thinking. It’s a way of seeing reality structurally, practically.

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So if something in your life currently isn’t ‘working’, ask yourself:
​What’s your perfect system for not achieving your goal?

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And yes, you do have a system. And it is ‘perfect’… for the results it’s getting. My clients often try to jump right into brainstorming what system to add to get their results (“What do I do?”), but their attempts are on shaky ground. First they need to uncover their current system (“What am I doing?”), which helps them get real and tangible with their systems.

For example, many clients I’ve worked with struggled to create wealth because of their behavior around money. Until they recognized their systems of avoiding, hoarding, or discarding money they would subconsciously sabotage any strategies, new or old, to create wealth.

Your system that leads to stuckness is probably a very familiar system — so familiar that it looks like something fixed: it’s ‘how the world works’, the ‘way you are’, what you’re good or not good at. You’ve got plenty of explanations and evidence for why that is the one and only reasonable way to behave. It’s a system that did work for a while, but maybe years or decades ago, and you mistook it for truth rather than just a system – that could someday be replaced. It’s what got you here, but won’t get you there.

Systems are not limited to deterministic, predictable, logical systems. ‘Waiting to feel like it to act’ is a system. ‘Following your gut’ is a system. ‘Consulting your spirit guides’ is a system. ‘Manifestation’ is a system. Asking ‘What would love do?’ is a system. And ‘I’m not a systems person’ is a system.

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Your systems aren’t you. The systems paradigm helps you not take your systems personally. Thinking in systems gives you space. Instead of being meaningful, serious, and dramatic – seeing everything as a system (including ‘taking it personally’, which is also a system) helps you engage it with creativity, more like a puzzle than a moral failing. We’re much wiser, more resourceful, and energized when we’re engaging with our life, rather than struggling with our life.

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So, again, what is your perfect system for not achieving your goal?

Pick something in your life that isn’t working, and take stock of everything you are doing. What actions are you honestly taking and not taking? Perhaps you‘re plugging away with a system that used to work, but doesn’t anymore. Perhaps you’re following a system that’s worked for everyone else, but hasn’t worked for you. Chances are 80% of your system is noise, overwhelming the 20% that is signal.

If your system was elegantly, ingeniously design to stay stuck, to delay, to be busy but not effective, to protect your ego rather than make progress, what are the blueprints of that system?

Here are some likely ingredients of systems perfectly designed to fail:

• Waiting to feel a certain way (calm, confident, inspired) before acting
• Gathering more information before making a decision
• Putting pressure on yourself
• Keeping a goal vague so you can’t really fail (or succeed)
• Filling your time with ‘productive’ distractions (i.e. ‘busy’ is lazy)
• Giving into distractions to avoid uncomfortable feelings
• Having great insights without changing your behavior
• Making the goal important, but not urgent (‘someday’, which never comes)
• Requiring the first draft to be perfect
• Waiting for something or someone else, relying only on reaction not proactive action
• Will only commit if it will work
• Not asking for help

And if you start coming up with stories about why you’re in this system — what’s wrong with you, what you should do, stories about good and bad and right and wrong — note that those stories are part of your system. Often a system that isn’t working involves a lot of story-telling, resulting in mostly autopilot or reactive action, and very little experimentation, creativity, or commitment.

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You always have a system. And it is always working perfectly. And if you want different results, there are two simple steps to take:
​Step 1: Uncover the current system
​Step 2: Experiment with putting in a new system

You’d think that the majority of the systems teaching would be around Step 2, but actually it’s Step 1 which is most important — because it’s the step that people skip. And it’s in Step 1 that your way of thinking shifts (into the systems paradigm), which puts you in a more spacious, creative, experimental frame of mind to properly engage Step 2.

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Once you see exactly why you’re failing, you can begin playing with new ways of operating. What was stuck becomes unstuck. What was impossible becomes possible. You release yourself from the past (systems), and begin to create the future.

If you’d like to uncover and transform your own systems, reach out to me at michael@authenticintegrity.com​

This is a simple introduction to Systems not Psychology, which is one of the five mindset shifts within my Elevate training – Creating a work culture that works.

For more on systems, these ideas are primarily inspired by the work of Steve Chandler, and his book The Power of Systems (co-authored with Trevor Timbeck) is an excellent starting point.

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Michael McDonald :: Transformational Coach :: authenticintegrity.com​
raising the consciousness of humanity, one conversation at a time
join my Substack​

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P.S. Looking for more perspective? Try out The Big Picture inquiry process.

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