www.systemic-design.net

1. Teaching Team Work in Systems Oriented Design.
Andreas Wettre, Leadership development, Giramar
Birger Sevaldson, Professor, AHO

2. The case
Last semester bachelor studies at Institute of Design AHO. Product, interaction and service design students
working in four teams.

3. The case
Salto is a company producing charging solutions for electric cars. They
deliver solutions for private homes as well as large scale
infrastructure.
Salto is a company started by a former student from Institute of
Design AHO.
In 2017 they merged with DEFA
www.salto.no
www.defa.com

4. People
 Is one person a system?
 Is a team a system?
 Is a school a system?

5. Social constructions
 Business development
 Strategy implementation
 Organisational development
 Therapy
 Design
 Money
 Country
 Democracy

6. Social Constructionism
 Everything we consider as real is socially constructed
 Nothing is real until we agree that it is
 We can talk about a thing as we want - optional
 How we talk is coming from a tradition - our background and experience
We become ... through our language and relations

7. INDIVIDUAL
UNIVERSE
MULTIVERSE
COLLECTIVE
UNIVERSE
Domains
EXPERIENCE
INSIGHT

9. Linear questions
• to investigate
• clarify sequences over
time
• develop a
sequential
understanding for
leader/coach
Open
strategic questions
• to co-create action-taking
• to inspire the other person
towards drawing own
conclusions
• the views/directions of the
person asking are
preferred
Circular questions
• to explore the
context and the
relationships
• clarify here and now
situation and
relationships
• develop a contextual
understanding for
leader/coach
Reflective questions
• to facilitate processes to
find new answers
• open for alternative
solutions or enhanced
understanding of good
situations
• selectively mobilize own
knowledge and
competencies
• invitational
Linear assumptions
Circular assumptions
InfluencingOrienting
Source:
Karl Tomm (1992)
Classes of questions - overview

10. Questions - examples
Linear questions
What? Where? When?
What can I help you solve
How would you describe the challenge briefly?
Have you experienced this problem before?
What do you do, when this and that happens?
Where are these problem taking place?
What could be the reason?
What are your reaktions when these things happen?
When does it happen more often?
Open strategic questions
Inspire for change
Wouldn’t it be better to talk to her rather then
discussing this without her?
If you told him to be more responsible, would
he say yes?
Do you see how you saying that make him
respond in that way?
If you invited him to an open and honest talk
over a nice meal, would he respond differently?
Circular questions
Explore interrelations!
When you react that way, what does she/he do?
What do your colleagues say you should do?
How does your wife notice that you are struggling?
What would your employee say if I asked him?
When you did well,how did your PA notice?
What do your colleagues recommend?
How did your leader notice that it went well?
Describe the difference between how you and X sees
it?
Reflective questions
Create new thinking.
How do you explain the situation?
Are there other explanations?
What could you do in order to feel professional
about it?
How do you explain what your employee does?
What should I tell you to prolong this problem?
How would X think, if he was in your shoes?
When is the problem smaller?
What is different then?
Linear assumptions
Circular assumptions
InfluencingOrienting

11. … but remember!
 There is no direct link between the assumptions behind your questions,
and the actual effect of them
 Firstly, there is little overlap between what you intend to do and what you
actually do
 Secondly, there is little overlap between what you actual do, and what the other
person perceives

12. The atmosphere
in and around the team
• Mastery or competition?
• Learning and helping
• Research program in collaboration
with Norwegian Business School
Decision making
• Handle complexity
• System oriented thinking
• “The cynefin framework”
Teams as systems
Structure and dynamics
• Purpose
• Effective meetings
• Dynamics
• Selection of topics
• Bang & Midelfart(2012/15)
The responsibility of
each member
• How do you contribute?
• Do the members make the
team leader better?
• “The ideal team player”
• Accountability
RESULTS

13. Feedback from students
 This was very different from group work, everybody
is not having the same role.
 We manage to utilize diversity
 We have actively been seeking good collaboration
 We used the methods for dealing with disagreement
and kept the good atmosphere
 I learned to hold back on my own meanings
 Thinking about formulating the right questions
helped

14. Feedback from students
 It was easy to fall back into your old roles
 We managed to use the communication techniques
 I have learned how to deal with bad communication
 We created a better understanding of each others skills
(service, interaction and product design)
 We moved in the same direction
 We had many task conflicts and used them to enhance the
design. We avoided task conflicts to develop into
relational conflicts
 Incredible how much a team can achieve

15. See the projects
 http://systemsorienteddesign.net/index.php/projects/bachelor-
projects/iuvo
 http://systemsorienteddesign.net/index.php/projects/bachelor-
projects/salto-connect
 http://systemsorienteddesign.net/index.php/projects/bachelor-
projects/e-route
 http://systemsorienteddesign.net/index.php/projects/bachelor-
projects/baklengs-salto