System Thinking for Professional Growth and Development, Essay Example

Question One: Blueprint for Professional Growth and Development

The assignment content significantly helped me to understand better how to foster a culture of organisational learning as well as applying systems thinking with the aim of achieving an enhanced corporate performance. On a broader note, I learnt various courses such as the Lean Six Sigma and managerial accounting. As part of the course, I learnt that Lean Six Sigma is a process that entails the improvement methodology that integrates the benefits of both Lean manufacturing techniques and Six Sigma to help organisation streamline the operations, reduce waste and increase the value. In this way, I have realised that the opportunity to read the concepts of Lean Six Sigma will tremendously impact my role within the organisation that I will be working. One benefit of applying the Lean Six Sigma in the organisation that I will be working for in future will be an increase in employee involvement through increasing their participation on the process improvement teams that are designed to assist in improving the processes as well as the customer value in the organisation. Reduced costs and increased satisfaction of the customers are other impacts associated with the Lean Six Sigma. Learning the managerial accounting further enabled me to gain knowledge regarding relevant cost analysis, activity-based costing techniques, make or buy analysis, as well as the utilization of data.

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The assignments and the course contents completely changed my view regarding the system thinking. I came to understand better that system thinking, as a holistic approach, can be used for the analysis that focuses on the manner in which the system's constituent parts interrelate as well as operating over a period. The systems thinking can be utilised in many areas of research (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). Broadly, it has been applied in many areas of research such as the environmental, political, economic, human resources, educational among many other areas.

The knowledge gained in this assignments can undeniably enable my positive changes and achievements in the organisation that I will be working for in the future. I can use the knowledge gained from the Lean Six Sigma course to involve the employees in the improvement process. This helps promote the active participation and contributes to an engaged and accountable team of employees (Raducan & Raducan, 2014).

Question Two: Personal Vision

According to Senge's The Fifth Discipline the organisations learn through the individuals who learn. This implies that the individuals learning does not guarantee organisational learning (Senge, 2014). In its absence, however, no organizational learning takes place. Broadly, Senge equates personal mastery with the personal growth and learning and is espoused by the individuals who continually expand their ability to create the results in life which they genuinely seek. In one paragraph, Senge mentions that individuals with a high level of personal mastery share essential characteristics and that they have a unique sense of purpose that lies behind their visions and goals. A vision is calling rather than merely a good idea for such kind of people (Bolden, 2016; Haines, 2016). There is numerous unpacks in several subsequent paragraphs. I develop the ability to observe the world the way it is and to embrace the forces and challenges, viewing them as the opportunities to be creative. I found the concept of personal mastery to be tremendously spiritual based on the fact that one entails a never-ending journey that is a reward in itself. Further, I able to establish that vision is a specific destination, a picture of the desired and a direction for the general heading. My abilities to preserve and to embrace the challenges and constraints presented by our current realities on our paths towards the achievement of the vision constitutes to the characterization of the mastery of creative tension and hence personal knowledge.

The very essence of leadership is the ability to have vision. The vision, in this case, implies the ability to articulate oneself clearly and forcefully on every occasion. As a young person who aspires to be a leader, I have a personal vision that generally relates to my ability to lead positive social change within the organization I will be working for as well as the community. The MBA program tremendously equipped me with the substantial knowledge regarding the qualities of good leaders. The program itself is designed with the unique leadership values in mind to prepare the next generation of leaders for the rigors of operating and succeeding in the today's competitive business environment. The MBA program, therefore, helped me develop my problem-solving skills, integrity, teamwork, and passion for development, which are all integral in becoming a good leader.

Question 3: Action Plan

The professional development goals in my case are focused on improving and increasing my capabilities as well as the competencies through the access to learning and training opportunities within the workplace. My primary goal as part of my professional development is to attend four seminars on the conflict resolution by the end of the next fiscal year. This will be aimed at increasing my knowledge or skill set. These types of goals focus on the plans for learning as well as enhancing and my ability when it comes to issues such as problem-solving, conflict management or resolution. The conflict has lately emerged as a primary challenge that affects many organizations. Therefore, gaining the knowledge to solve and manage it will help me prepare for any future occurrence of the same.

References

Bolden, R. (2016). Leadership, management and organisational development. In Gower handbook of leadership and management development (pp. 143-158). Routledge.

Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson.

Haines, S. (2016). The systems thinking approach to strategic planning and management. CRC Press.

Raducan, R., & Raducan, R. (2014). Leadership and management. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 149, 808-812.

Senge, P. M. (2014). The fifth discipline fieldbook: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization. Crown Business.