When we describe a business, we usually focus on the numbers, the product, the service or the technology. When in reality the thing that makes all of it work – or not – is the human layer beneath.

Human systems are the informal networks, habits, routines, and relationships through which a business actually operates. They’re the patterns of who decides what, who tells whom, who holds the knowledge and how information is shared. You won’t find them on your org chart nor in a policy or process manual. They usually become very visible, very quickly when something changes: a new hire, a new leader, a capital injection.

A business can carry excellent strategy and a fragile human system simultaneously.

The gap between them shows up as work needing to be redone, decision delays that seem inexplicable, missed deadlines and problems that repeatedly resurface without resolution.

Human systems are our primary unit of analysis.

Before we look at structure, strategy or process, we look at how the people in a business actually interact under normal conditions and under pressure.

Where does your business run on unwritten rules or relationships?