Task C4.4: Evaluate Current Systems

What is Task C4.4?

Task C4.4 is part of the "Decide" phase in the Viability Canvas methodology, specifically within the "Optimize" step (Step C4). This task instructs you to "Consider your current information systems, including organizational systems like meeting cadences and technical information systems" with a focus on evaluating how effectively your organization measures activities, ensures departments fulfill their responsibilities, monitors problems, tracks financial information, and manages information flow cycles.

Purpose of Evaluating Current Systems

The purpose of this task is to assess the effectiveness of your existing information systems in supporting organizational viability. This serves several important functions:

1. Identifying information gaps: Discovering where critical information is missing or delayed
2. Assessing information quality: Determining if available information is accurate, timely, and relevant
3. Evaluating information flow: Understanding how well information moves through the organization
4. Recognizing bureaucratic burden: Identifying excessive or unnecessary information requirements
5. Supporting decision-making: Ensuring decision-makers have the information they need

By evaluating your current information systems, you create the foundation for improvements that will enhance organizational awareness, responsiveness, and decision quality.

Understanding Information Systems in VSM

In the Viable System Model, information systems are vital for organizational viability and include:

• Real-time monitoring systems that provide current operational data
• Exception reporting systems that highlight deviations requiring attention
• Financial information systems that track resource utilization
• Performance measurement systems that monitor results
• Coordination mechanisms that enable smooth operations
• Formal and informal communication channels across the organization

Effective information systems are characterized by timeliness, relevance, accessibility, and appropriate filtering to prevent information overload.

How to Complete Task C4.4

To evaluate your current information systems:

1. Assess measurement capabilities for each operational area:
   • What metrics are currently tracked for each department?
   • How accurate and reliable are these measurements?
   • Are measurements taken frequently enough to enable timely responses?
   • Do measurements focus on what truly matters for viability?
2. Evaluate departmental monitoring processes:
   • How do you ensure each department is fulfilling its responsibilities?
   • What systems track progress against objectives?
   • How visible is departmental performance to management?
   • Are there blind spots in monitoring critical functions?
3. Analyze problem detection mechanisms:
   • How quickly are problems identified?
   • Do you have early warning systems for critical issues?
   • Is there appropriate alerting for serious problems?
   • Can problems be detected before they become critical?
4. Review financial information timeliness:
   • How current is your financial information?
   • How long would it take to detect financial problems?
   • Is financial information accessible to those who need it?
   • Are financial trends and patterns readily visible?
5. Examine information cycle times:
   • How long does it take for information to flow through the system?
   • Are there delays in collecting, processing, or distributing information?
   • Is information available when needed for decision-making?
   • Are there bottlenecks in information flows?
6. Assess bureaucratic burden:
   • Which information do you really need for effective management?
   • Is there redundant or unnecessary reporting?
   • Does information collection impose unreasonable burdens?
   • Is the value of information proportional to the cost of collecting it?

Example Application

For a manufacturing company:

• Measurement assessment: Production metrics (volume, quality, efficiency) are tracked in real-time, but customer satisfaction data has a 30-day lag
• Department monitoring: Daily production reports, weekly quality reviews, monthly performance dashboards
• Problem detection: Automated alerts for production stoppages, but product quality issues often identified by customers rather than internal systems
• Financial timeliness: Monthly financial closing takes 15 days, creating significant delay in financial awareness
• Information cycles: Production data flows in near real-time, but cross-functional information (e.g., engineering to production) experiences 3-5 day delays
• Bureaucratic assessment: Excessive reporting requirements for minor operational changes, but insufficient information about emerging market trends

This evaluation reveals both strengths (real-time production monitoring) and areas for improvement (financial information timeliness, quality problem detection, cross-functional information flow).

Key Principles for Information System Evaluation

When evaluating information systems:

1. Timeliness: Information should be available quickly enough to enable appropriate responses
2. Relevance: Information should focus on what truly matters for organizational viability
3. Accessibility: Information should be easily available to those who need it
4. Efficiency: Information collection should not impose unreasonable burdens
5. Completeness: Critical aspects of operations should not be information blind spots
6. Balance: Avoid both information overload and information gaps
7. Integration: Information from different sources should be connected to provide a coherent view
8. Action orientation: Information should facilitate decisions and actions, not just reporting

By applying these principles in your evaluation, you can identify opportunities to strengthen your information systems in ways that enhance organizational viability while avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy.