Does your organization have an organization chart? Most do. Typical "org charts" include titles and names in boxes, arranged in order of hierarchy, connected by lines that show who reports to whom.

Org charts are useful because they define the individuals and departments that make up the organization. But if an org chart is the only diagram that explains an organization, it signals an opportunity to do some important re-thinking.

An organization chart doesn't show the interdependent nature of the components that make up the organization, nor how the work actually gets done. For that, you need to view the organization as a system, rather than a collection of individuals or departments working side by side.

Here is a typical organization chart:

Source: The Improvement Guide, p. 264.

Now, here is the same organization viewed as a system, in which key processes are shown and the flow of demand (or need) and supply is illustrated. This systems-oriented version shows the interdependent relationships among the departments:

Source: The Improvement Guide, p. 265; Adapted with permission from Deming, W. Out of the Crisis. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: Institute of Technology, 1986, p.4.

This second chart is based on W. Edwards Deming's diagram of production viewed as a system, which describes how an organization actually accomplishes its purpose.

The authors of The Improvement Guide note the following important aspects of this "systems view" of the organization:

• The need in society is the primary focus and provides the aim for efforts to improve.
• Suppliers and customers are closely connected to the system.
• The feedback loop shows the system for improvement.
• Customer research and planning are prerequisites for improvement.
• Improvement results from design or redesign of some aspect of the system.
• Everyone in the organization should participate in improvement .

The success of the system should be measured across multiple dimensions (a "family of measures," say the authors, starting with a set of ten or fewer), including financial and operational data, as well as staff and customer feedback. Leaders must make sure everyone understands the measures and how they relate to each other.

It's easy for people working in a system to forget how their work relates to and affects those around them, or more often, those who work in a distant part of the system. The leaders' job is to reinforce on a daily basis the systemic nature of the organization, the interdependence of each unit within it, and the importance of working as a team.