Most business leaders spend an most of their time thinking about people, hiring, managing, motivating. The rest of their time? Playing whack-a-mole with problems.
A fire pops up, they scramble to fix it. Another issue? Fix that too. The cycle repeats. It’s exhausting, reactive, and worst of all, it’s a bad way to run a business.
When faced with recurring problems, the knee-jerk reaction is usually: We need a better process for this!
But great leaders don’t just think in processes, they think in systems. Instead of asking “How do we fix this specific issue?”, they ask: “How do we design a system where this problem never happens again?”
Let’s talk about the difference between process thinking and systems thinking, and why shifting your mindset can transform the way you operate.
Process Thinking vs. Systems Thinking
Process Thinking is tactical. It focuses on efficiency, making individual tasks faster, cheaper, or smoother. That’s needed, but it’s small-picture thinking.
Systems Thinking is strategic. It’s about designing structures that make the entire business run better, not just optimizing one piece of it. It includes:
Feedback loops (to fix issues before they escalate)
Automation (so things run without constant manual effort)
Scalability (so growth doesn’t break the system)
Chick-fil-A: A Masterclass in Systems Thinking
A typical fast-food chain looks at process optimization like this:
How do we take orders faster?
How do we speed up cooking?
How do we get cars through the drive-thru quicker?
Chick-fil-A doesn’t just make each step faster. They redesigned the entire system to work better together. Here’s what systems thinking looks like in action:
Drive-thru bottlenecks? Instead of waiting for customers to reach a speaker, they send employees outside with tablets to take orders directly from cars.
Kitchen delays? They optimize kitchen layout and workflow to match real-time order volume.
Slow pickup? Instead of forcing cars to wait at a window, they use runners to deliver food directly to customers. IF the order is taking too long, they will have the drive move to a parking spot to not bottleneck the other orders.
And it’s not just the drive-thru, it’s also their franchisee selection, supplier relationships, and training programs that all reinforce their system, creating long-term efficiency, not just short-term speed.
The result? Chick-fil-A drive-thrus serve 100+ cars per hour, while competitors struggle to hit 60.
Toyota: The Birth of Systems Thinking
Toyota’s Toyota Production System (TPS) didn’t just optimize how cars were built, it redefined manufacturing itself. Instead of just making individual tasks more efficient, Toyota designed a system where:
Employees are empowered to stop the assembly line when they spot a defect (Jidoka).
Just-in-time (JIT) inventory management prevents excess stock and waste.
Decentralized suppliers and adaptive logistics help Toyota recover faster than competitors after disruptions like the 2011 Japan earthquake.
Toyota doesn’t just fix bottlenecks, they design systems where bottlenecks fix themselves.
The Three Core Systems Every Business Needs
Every company, whether a startup or a Fortune 500 giant, needs to think in three types of systems:
1. Decision-Making Systems
Reduces decision fatigue and streamlines choices.
Uses mental models, clear frameworks, and automation to ensure leaders aren’t stuck micromanaging every little thing.
Example: Jeff Bezos’ Type 1 vs. Type 2 decision framework (Reversible vs. Irreversible decisions).
2. Execution Systems
Standardizes repeatable processes to prevent mistakes and inefficiencies.
Ensures quality control and smooth operations without requiring constant oversight through process controls.
Example: McDonald’s franchise model, where every store runs like a well-oiled machine with the same playbook.
3. Feedback Systems
Gathers data, identifies issues early, and adjusts for improvement.
Helps businesses evolve based on real-world insights.
Example: Netflix started as a DVD rental company. Their feedback system (tracking customer behavior) led them to shift into streaming and eventually original content.
The Systems Thinking Playbook: How to Build a Business That Runs Itself
Step 1: Identify Recurring Problems & Bottlenecks
Ask yourself:
What tasks are we repeating constantly?
Where do things keep breaking down?
What problems do we keep fixing instead of preventing?
Example: If your customer service team keeps answering the same questions all day from customers, the problem isn’t slow response time, it’s that you need an FAQ page, chatbot, or automated replies.
Step 2: Design a Self-Sustaining System
Ask yourself:
How can we Delete, Automate, Delegate (DAD method) parts of the process or system?
How can we create a system that improves over time?
Example: A venture capital firm drowning in startup pitches doesn’t just hire more analysts, they build a scoring system that filters opportunities before human review.
Step 3: Install Feedback Loops & Iterate
Systems should constantly evolve as the business grows. Regularly ask:
Is this system still serving its purpose?
Where can we tweak it for better efficiency?
Build checkpoints to review and refine them.
Example: A restaurant that tracks customer complaints about long wait times, adjusts its reservation system to smooth out peak-hour demand, and then monitors customer satisfaction scores to ensure the change improved the experience is using a feedback loop.
Build Machines, Not Manual Workloads
Most businesses operate in process mode, constantly hiring more people, throwing more hours at problems, and scrambling to fix issues instead of designing systems that prevent issues in the first place.
“Results are obtained by exploiting opportunities, not by solving problems” - Peter Drucker
Systems Thinking is long-term leverage. A restaurant doesn’t need more waiters, it needs a better kitchen-to-table system. A startup doesn’t need more customer service reps, it needs automated support tools. A CEO doesn’t need to make every decision, they need decision frameworks that let the business run without them.
Don’t fix problems, design a system where the problems fix themselves.
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