System: (paraphrased from dictionary.com) – “an ordered, comprehensive, coordinated body of methods and/or a plan of procedure and/or a program of action.”

A system is created and put in place to accomplish an objective; so to create a system one must first grasp the objective. Nothing new. Per Stephen Covey, “begin with the end in mind.” But too often we conjure a system from the magic of past success with little or no consideration for present and future dissimilarities, resources, and/or circumstance, much less any new and/or evolving objectives. Complex systems are required to accomplish multiple, layered objectives.

In the workplace, I have observed the following, sometimes overlapping (categories of) systems utilized by individuals or workgroups to attain objectives:

• Do what I am told, (when I have to).
• Do it the way we have always done it.
• Willingly follow direction with a sense of responsibility.
• Squeaky wheel / put out fires / distracted / unfocused.
• Understand objectives working within a strict adherence to existing, approved, (often outdated) policy and procedure.
• Good intentions / possibly open to suggestions / rely on knowledge / rest on laurels.
• Understand objectives, listen attentively to stakeholders, and work to improve.
• Prolific uncertainty.

Prolificity and Prolific Uncertainty:

To be complete, prolificity must be more than productivity – (think of a prolific bureaucrat); it must also be fruitful, (i.e., good, beneficial). To be fruitful in one's efforts to be prolific one must also be thoughtful, one must doubt and question, one must evolve, learn, grow, and one must work to be prescient. This prolific uncertainty emphasizes quality over quantity; reason over acclaim. (8/5/23)

I want to believe, if given the opportunity, many (perhaps most) individuals and (especially) groups would gravitate toward prolific uncertainty. Unfortunately wielded power often squelches actual, beneficial progress and improvement by requiring one of the less flexible, less ordered, less comprehensive systems. Yet within a lesser system, I believe one should still thoughtfully (and according to circumstance, respectfully) doubt and question in order to personally evolve, learn, grow, and enhance the potential for Good. When one is trapped in a sucking spiral of sluggish buoyancy, one can choose to not suck.