Why Business Leaders Must Focus on Systems Interaction Design: Turn Dependencies into Collaboration

Russell Ackoff famously stated that “a system is not the sum of its parts, but the product of their interactions.”

This profound insight is a foundation for modern leadership. However, many organisations fail to apply this principle.

In my 10+ years as a consultant, I’ve observed teams and entire departments:

• Suffering enormous levels of conflict
• Paralysed with unmanaged dependencies
• Engaged in detrimental business politics

These issues are the result of a lack of Interaction Design. And this leads to systems that impede rather than enable value delivery.

I coach Leaders to view organisations as cell-based structures, emphasising the significance of interactions between these ‘cells’. Ackoff teaches us that the space between these cells (or work systems) is where the magic happens — or where conflict brews.

When we fail to design these interactions, we encounter:

• Rampant conflict
• Unpredictable delivery
• Last-minute urgent work
• A reactive stance to demand
• Lack of collaboration…