If you have ever worked at a major corporation, you certainly have dealt with an expense policy for the company. Expense policies are typically designed to protect the firm from financial risk. The firm decides what risk they are willing to tolerate and applies boundary conditions for how company money can be spent.
I have started to take an interest in systems thinking and I have heard the following quote (or something like it) repeated many times.
“Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.”
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Thinking about the principles at play here – a system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets – implies that there are boundary conditions to the system. Those who are designing the system decide the amount of risk they are willing to take and that has a direct impact on the reward available to them. As the saying goes “the greater the risk, the greater the reward”. Each action we take has an outcome. This outcome is either a realized reward or a realized risk. The rewards far outnumber the risks over time.
How can we put this theory into practice?
I struggle, like many people, with imposter syndrome and a fear of being alone. I have designed my life (my system) in a way that surrounds me with people that love me and encourage me in all that I do. My boundary conditions are small, and I do not have many people in my life that will push against my comfort for the sake of improvement. My personal growth will happen when I begin to be more vulnerable and open to my weakness. When I expand my boundary conditions, the risk of me being judged and criticized for my weakness goes up. In addition, my ability to grow and feel more love and confidence increases.
Where are your boundary conditions? How will you improve your personal system?
