If we view our organization as a system, then by definition all of the activities are connected. At first glance, they may appear to be independent of each other but in reality, any action taken by one of the activities will impact the others. Then it follows any real and lasting change for the better must be based on a systems approach; all changes must not just improve a local activity, but rather the entire organization.

There are two characteristics of all systems (Goldratt and Cox, 1984): dependency of variables or activities and fluctuation (more commonly referred to as variability). Even if this tenet of improvement is recognized and accepted, it will immediately create a conflict with existing metrics.

This conflict highlights the requirement for an overarching common set of metrics for evaluating individual contributions of all activities while establishing connectivity to the performance of the organization as a whole. Once these new metrics are in place and effective management tools assessing the impact of internal and external variability are being used, then the variability can be evaluated quickly and corrective action taken to protect the organization’s performance.