What 'perfectly designed' systems in your life need changed?

Over 100 years ago Fredrick W. Taylor said: “Your system is perfectly designed to produce the results you are getting.”

Granted, as a mechanical engineer by training, Taylor was focused on the cold hard world of industrialization at the time. Nevertheless, one century later, systems are at the heart of much of our world.

The implications of Taylor's insight are many--and I'm not just talking about what happens in the factory.

The way we do whatever we do often has incredible implications for the end results.

Two areas where this can be seen as plain as day are the areas of exercise and nutrition. With rare exception, people who eat healthy and exercise regularly will look the part.

But the system analogy is also true in other areas of life, such as relationships.

Relationships can be built in healthy ways or in unhealthy ways. This is not to say that relationships are simply the result of manipulation for good or ill. Clearly relationships are more dynamic than that. But important relationship characteristics, such as trust, tend to be built slowly over time. So people can either focus on behaviors that build that trust (and, if sincere, demonstrate genuine care) or they can focus on behaviors that will call such trust (and care) into question.

If you're a business person, there's a good chance that your 'systems' are producing exactly what an outside observer might expect, given the circumstances. Yet because of changing circumstances, what worked in the past may not work in the present and/or future. And so perhaps the perfectly designed program that once produced perfect results is no longer so perfect!

One area where I'm not so sure Taylor's system analogy applies is in regard to the Christian faith (or at least a Lutheran understanding of the Christian faith). The whole idea of 'grace' is that we do not get what we deserve but, rather, receive much more blessing than we could ever deserve!

Still, while Taylor's system analogy may not apply directly to one's relationship with the Divine, ironically it often does apply in terms of how religious organizations actually function, for good or for ill.

[The previous sentence is not necessarily meant to suggest that religious organizations that are perceived as 'successful'--for example, in terms of a growing number of participants--are necessarily better or more faithful than other religious organizations. All systems need to be open to critique for the sake of the common good and/or faithfulness. Which is why a system that produces a perceived dying religious organization--also in regard to the number of participants--is also worthy of critique.]

So this article's title question becomes the take-home question: What 'perfectly designed' systems in your life need changed?