Setting the Stage
One of the ways that behavior analysis provides a model in addressing not just parts of the organization, but the organization as a whole is through Behavioral Systems Analysis (BSA). BSA allows you to analyze the organization outside the basic 3 term contingency, which might not mean much to a non-behavior analytic audience. What that essentially means is that we’re not just concerned with the behavior of an individual (what motivates them or evokes their behavior), but we’re also concerned with how to analyze the organization as a whole. This is critical because inevitably there are variables that impact the individuals and the organization, not simply one or the other.
Key Points:
A garden is an intricate system with numerous variables
It takes hard work and keen insight to determine how to improve productivity
Performance management is just one part of the BSA process
Case study highlights the inadequacy of targeting only one level of performance
Consider all the variables that impact the individual and the organization as a whole
Behavioral Systems and Gardens
Before explaining BSA in more depth, we wanted to provide a brief analogy. Let’s do a thought experiment. We want you to envision a garden. We think that garden imagery can be powerful in developing an understanding of behavioral systems. The garden is analogous to the organization. The plants within the garden are analogous to the individual performers within the organization. The good news is that you can be the gardener! If you dislike the garden and how it’s performing, there are ways in which you can behave to bring about changes in the garden. The BSA process is not unlike the gardener who strives to understand all the conditions affecting the garden, not just in isolation, but holistically. The gardener could try ineffective approaches like simply replacing a plant or vine that’s not performing or producing like it should.
The BSA process is not unlike the gardener who strives to understand all the conditions affecting the garden, not just in isolation, but holistically.
That said, until the soil is assessed, watering is just right, sun exposure is considered, etc., the garden will likely not ever thrive like it can. We know how the story can play out when all the things are considered as interconnected parts of a larger system. Fruit in abundance, delicious vegetables, and a beautiful garden that’s enjoyable and productive.
The Three Levels of Performance
Now that we have the garden image, let’s get more technical and precise by relating these concepts back to the organization. The aim of Behavioral Systems Analysis (BSA) is to better understand the relationship between the system and parts of the system. Rummler & Brache (2013) describe BSA by organizing it into 3 levels of performance (organizational, process, and performer levels). At the very beginning of their guide on BSA, they describe the importance of analyzing the whole system, and not just one part. They explain how you could pick apart one thing to address within an organizational setting, but then realize that the whole universe is attached. While this might be hyperbole, they are highlighting how everything is holistically interdependent because everything within organizations is connected (Rummler & Brache, 2013).
While performance management is one part of the BSA process, it is important to understand that performance management alone will likely not lead to the desired results that most organizations are trying to achieve.
One aim of BSA is to help create adaptive and proactive organizations that are more likely to survive as conditions change (McGee & Crowley-Koch, 2019). While performance management is one part of the BSA process, it is important to understand that performance management alone will likely not lead to the desired results that most organizations are trying to achieve. Rummler and Brache (1995) say that a good performer will lose to a bad system every day of the week (this will be illustrated below).
A Case Study
To illustrate the importance of analyzing the whole system when making organizational changes, a hypothetical case study will be provided to highlight the inadequacy of targeting only one level of performance. In this study, a healthcare services company that provides autism services wants to add another 10 behavior technicians to their roster so that they can assume new patients and subsequently add value. Without analyzing this thoroughly to understand the consequences and impact at each level of the organization, it is very unlikely that they will be able to successfully accomplish what they set out to do. Remember, what they really want is a net gain of 10 techs, whether or not that was made clear to all the performers doing the work.
For example, if the shareholders and CEO agree that the company's strategic opportunity (this occurs at the organizational level of performance) is in assuming the new patients, they know that in order to do that, they might consider launching a hiring campaign designed to increase the number of employees they can hire. Let's assume that this works and within a 90-day period, 10 new BTs get hired within the organization. The HR associate that led the hiring campaign was a superstar and it all worked according to plan - he met his performance management goal to hire 10 new techs within the 90-day period.
Rather than celebrating the new hires, the leadership is disappointed to learn that they lost 12 techs, which leaves them with a net gain of negative 2. Where did the organization go wrong? Perhaps resource deployment was so heavily focused on recruitment, that retention suffered. This sounds like it should never happen, but it does. Perhaps the HR associate is a “swiss army knife” that plays many roles in the organization and all incentives were in place for hiring the staff and not retaining the existing ones. Again, sounds like something that should never happen, but it does. The leaders within the organization did not consider all the levels of performance. More emphasis should have been placed on the process and performance levels in other areas of the organization.
For example, perhaps the HR department should have recruited new clinical staff while also building new mechanisms by which existing staff can be retained. Or maybe a performance management strategy would have been helpful by creating a more balanced incentive that incorporated both new staff hiring and retention of existing staff. Or maybe more inputs were needed to accomplish the hiring results and rather than hiring the marketing associate, a specific recruiter could have been hired. BSA is designed to add value to the group as it considers organizational change, whether small or large-scale change (Brethower, 2001).
Unfortunately, in this case, a good performer lost to a bad system. The HR associate did his job based on the incentives at work, but the leaders within the company FAILED to analyze the impact of this new strategy on the company as a whole. Subsequently, there was little alignment within the company and the initiative was not successful. This hypothetical case study highlights the value of BSA related to organizational change, and also illustrates why performance management alone is insufficient to tackle lasting change that produces results.
Closing Thoughts
In closing, it’s important to consider all the variables that impact the individual and the organization as a whole. Going back to the garden, remember that whatever role you play, there’s opportunities to be the gardener that brings about the beautiful harvest that everyone wants and appreciates. It’s not through quick fixes that ignore root problems. It comes through careful observation, diligent experimentation, and strategic action. That said, get your shovel and let’s get to work.
Going back to the garden, remember that whatever role you play, there’s opportunities to be the gardener that brings about the beautiful harvest that everyone wants and appreciates.
References
Brache, A. P., & Rummler, G. A. (2013). Improving performance: How to manage the white space on the organization chart. Jossey-Bass.
Brethower, D. M. (2001). A systemic view of enterprise: Adding value to performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 20(3-4), 165-190.
McGee, H. M., & Crowley-Koch, B. (2019). Using behavioral systems analysis to improve large scale change initiatives in autism service organizations. Perspectives on behavior science, 42(4), 931-954.