Building Better Systems: What a Puppy Can Teach Us About Change

Author: Sterling Ta’Bon, Healthy Schools Manager & National Cadre Coordinator at Cairn Guidance

Structure Behavior:

Imagine you are given your very first pet, a puppy named after your favorite candy bar. This puppy will become the reflection of the environment you create for them such as protection, nutrition, and attention. As the puppy develops, they easily associate your presence with one that brings great benefit. Their perception of you is based on thousands of behaviors and habits you created through the relationship like going on walks, belly rubs, and receiving treats after bathing. Your puppy realizes that the structure you uphold comes with incentives and yields rewards throughout the process. Over time, they come to understand that the structure and boundaries you establish create a safe environment where they can thrive.

Using this scenario, we find ourselves practicing the function of systems thinking, recognizing that a system’s structure generates its behavior. When working to enhance relationships, we should be intentional that our system matches our purpose based on our anticipated outcome. When making change, systems thinkers are aware that not only physical limitations but social and cultural norms can create obstacles. This approach in thinking about structures can help explain how much time it takes to grow a relationship or reach the anticipated outcome. 

Back to our candy bar named puppy, we understand that the puppy’s wellness and best possibilities for healthy living are based on how well we structure our habits to their growth. As we create change, structures eliminate the need for blame, focusing on our habits and shifting them to benefit our goal, not emotions or lapse in judgment. Systems thinkers are aware that consistent habits lead to structures that lead to results. Our puppy is an important reminder that the structures we build are just as important as individual actions or interventions. 

Learn more about systems thinking and principles that make up change through our simulations. Cairn Guidance offers facilitation of two simulations- the Systems Thinking; Systems Changing™ simulation and the Making Change™ simulation.

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