Systems Thinking & Evaluation Discussion
Part 1:
Watch the video “Approaching Your Employer to Talk About Your Capstone.” (ADDED TRANSCRIPT FOR 3MIN VIDEO)
Write a 700-word summary report detailing how you believe the MHA program, and what you expect to gain from it, benefits your current position and future growth within your organization. Plagiarism should only be 20% to account for references. Do not use quotes. Copying and pasting quotes do not allow you to learn the material. Write information in your own words.
Identify the structural, behavioral, and intersectional (relationship) attributes of your current or most recent employer’s organization.
Create a detailed systems thinking diagram that maps the stock, inflows, outflows, and feedback loops of your organization.
Explain your diagram within your summary.
Cite 3 reputable references to support the contents of your letter (e.g., trade or industry publications, government or agency websites, scholarly works, or other sources of similar quality).
Submit your assignment. You do not need to put this assignment into APA formatting.
Part 2:
The YouTube™ video “Systems Thinking and Evaluation” provides an example of how complex problems can be better analyzed when applying a system thinking perspective.
It’s the very first video that appears when you type in, Systems Thinking and Evaluation. The video is by Kylie Hutchinson
Write a 175- to 265-word response to the following:
In one sentence, how would you explain systems thinking to someone who has not heard of this concept?
Provide one example of how systems thinking can be applied to affect positive outcomes.
Read and respond to at least two of your classmates’ discussion posts. Be constructive and professional with your thoughts, feedback, or suggestions. Do not merely agree or disagree, carry the conversation forward. 150 word minimum per response.
Please make sure your all your posts are original and not copied/plagiarized (don’t use quotes). We need to read your thoughts, not someone else’s. Make sure your posts are on topic.
R1:
I would explain system thinking as taking a step back to grasp the whole picture instead of focusing in on one part. In the clinical laboratory we have different departments all striving to one end goal, getting results out efficiently and according to our standard operating procedures. If the patient specimen come in at an early time (courier), is process as soon as it gets to the lab (accessioner), prepare for the tests that is asked for (lab assistant), place on the instruments to receive lab results (lab technician) and results finalized and reported out ( supervisor/lab manager) then everyone has met the goal for each day. By applying systems thinking you are able to better understand the relationships between each department and the flow of work. Once that is done you can analyze other ways for the clinical lab to be more productive, where and if you need to add more employees to a specific department to get the job done, and if and when the lab can expand it’s test menu for more productivity.
R2:
I would start by emphasizing on systems thinking as a disciplined approach for examining problems more completely and accurately before acting because it allows us to ask better questions before jumping to conclusions. This approach includes the willingness to see a situation more fully, to recognize that we are interrelated, to acknowledge that there are often multiple interventions to a problem, and to champion interventions that may not be popular. This often involves moving from observing events or data, to identifying patterns of behavior overtime, to surfacing the underlying structures that drive those events and patterns. For instance, systems thinkers place importance on ‘synthesis’, the relationships between components and how they function as a whole. This has taught us that a system is a product of the interaction of its parts, not just the sum of its parts. For example if you take the car apart it is no longer a car, as it has lost its essential functions. It is the collective interactions of the parts that dictate system behaviour. Systems thinking habit clearly helps to understand important connections and encourages a wide perspective, rather than just a focus on specific events.