Whole System Design (WSD): The Shifting Focus of Attention and the Threshold Challenge

Rapid and repeatable redesign of business processes, supporting systems, and structures is one response to increasing competitive pressure. However, threshold challenge occurs when attention shifts from the technical system design (business process/work flow and equipment) to the social system design (roles, measures, and structures). During technical system design, strong emotions about loss-of status, authority, and certainty-can be suspended, but starting design of supporting social elements tends to unleash these concerns. The authors' thesis is that successful implementation is most likely when (a) the people who do the work are the ones engaged in the redesign of both the technical and social systems; (b) individual and structural change is addressed systemically among organizational development, information technology, and business process reengineering professionals; and (c) the predictable midpoint challenge (the threshold challenge) associated with shifting the focus of attention in whole system design (WSD) is understood and managed effectively.