ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on the challenges of having multiple roles in different systems at work, and the importance of holding in mind which system one is in – and therefore which task one is working at – at different times. Different kinds of challenges are considered: being part of multiple systems which may have contradictory or competing priorities, the interplay of task and sentient systems, taking the role of representative in inter-group systems, and the particular challenges of inevitably having multiple and overlapping roles in family businesses. Examples include the risk control department of an investment bank, the sustainability department of an energy company, the customs control department of an overnight delivery firm, among others. The chapter offers ‘tools’ for managers, including system-mapping, regaining one’s boundary position so as to see wider-system patterns, and organization-in-the-mind.
