Systems Thinking in Product
A training on solving organizational problems at the root, instead of firefighting the same symptoms over and over. You learn to recognize what really drives a recurring problem, and to pinpoint the one change that will actually move things.
Systems thinking is a skill that changes how you perceive your organization. Instead of reacting to individual events, you start seeing patterns. Instead of looking for someone to blame, you start understanding dynamics and structure. You have a sense that something deeper lies behind recurring problems, but you lack the language and tools to show it to others. This workshop gives you both.
Causal Loop Diagrams let you draw the dynamics you feel intuitively. The archetypes of Peter Senge (author of "The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization") give names to the dysfunction patterns you keep seeing in your organization: Fixes that Fail, Shifting the Burden, or Accidental Adversaries. They reveal and explain the connection between symptoms and the structure of the system. Meadows' leverage points (from "Thinking in Systems: A Primer") show where change makes sense and where you waste energy on the appearance of improvement. This workshop combines the classics of systems thinking (Senge, Deming, Ackoff) with dynamics modeling (Forrester, Meadows, Sterman) and product application (Reinertsen, the Poppendiecks, Larman) into tools you can use right away.
Over two days you model typical organizational and product dysfunctions - not abstract textbook examples. You walk away with your own CLD, identified archetypes and an intervention plan ready to present to your manager.
Distinguish the four levels of seeing a system (events, patterns, structure, mental models) and apply that distinction to diagnosing your own organization.
Build Causal Loop Diagrams, from identifying variables, through polarity, to closing reinforcing (R) and balancing (B) loops, including delays.
Recognize Peter Senge's nine archetypes in everyday organizational dysfunctions and justify findings structurally.
Evaluate available interventions and choose those that address the core of the problem - the structure of the system - instead of default reactions like adding people, resources, or processes.
Return to your organization with a developed CLD and an intervention plan ready to present to your manager.
Distinguish between a "mess" and a problem, and know when to solve within the existing structure and when to dissolve the problem by redesigning the system.
1. Foundations of systems thinking
The distinguishing thesis: You can't change a system you can't see
Four levels of system observation: events, patterns, structure, mental models
The Iceberg as a diagnostic tool: from symptom to mental model
Behavior over Time (BOT) as a language of patterns
2. Causal Loop Diagrams - notation and modeling
Variables, arrows, link polarity
Reinforcing (R) and balancing (B) loops: how to identify and close them
Delays in the system and their role in dysfunctions
Group modeling of the first CLD on a live example
3. First archetype: Fixes that Fail
Structure: symptomatic B loop + dysfunction R loop with delay
Group modeling: Tech Debt Spiral or Customer Success Heroics
Delay as the hidden source of recurring problems
4. Nine Senge archetypes - recognition and modeling
Full list: Limits to Growth, Shifting the Burden, Eroding Goals, Escalation, Success to the Successful, Tragedy of the Commons, Fixes that Fail, Growth and Underinvestment, Accidental Adversaries, Balancing Process with Delay
Structural signatures of each archetype and recognition signals
Group modeling: Limits to Growth, Shifting the Burden, Accidental Adversaries, Growth and Underinvestment
5. Leverage points and intervention planning
12 places to intervene in a system, from least to most effective
Why the most popular interventions have the lowest impact - and what to do about it
Planning your own intervention: your dysfunction, your CLD, your action plan
Krzysztof Niewiński
Product Strategy & Org Design Advisor
20 years in product - from engineering through management to strategy. Creator of the Multi-Team Product Model: a system of work that combines product principles (Cagan, Torres), scaled organization design (Larman, Galbraith), and strategy as a cascade of decisions (Lafley, Martin). Partner at ProCognita for 10 years. Has advised and trained over 60 companies, including Allegro, PayU, G2A, Orange, UPC, ERGO, CircleK. At G2A, as Transformation Manager, led a 15-month transformation from 18 component teams into one multi-team product organization. Time-to-Market reduced 5x. Hosts LeSS Warsaw community and LeSS-Talks podcast. Builds his own products (roome.pl, AI Product Scout).
Two days of intensive workshop in subgroups - modeling many dysfunctions, no dry lectures
Reference card: 9 Senge archetypes (with structural signatures and recognition heuristics)
Reference card: 12 Meadows leverage points (with product examples)
Intervention plan template
Certificate of completion: Systems Thinking in Product: Trained to see the system
Workshop summary sent by email after completion, with additional reading materials
Photos of flipcharts and CLD models produced during the workshop
Lunch and coffee breaks (in-person workshops)
Price does not include accommodation and travel costs.
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Systems Thinking in Product
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