Michael,
Not a straight answer to your question because I do not have a dollars
kind of answer.
Taking your example of 'people understood better...' ask your participants
to put a value on 'not understanding what is going on....' 'How much does
it cost to suffer ambiguity and uncertainty?' If they find this difficult
they may be more willing to engage their managers with 'soft' figures for
the benefits of greater understanding etc.
Also ask them if they believe that they are better able to deal
with/complete whatever the problems they had as a result of their systems
thinking workshop. How can they present this to their manager in an
engaging way that gets support without having an explicitly dollars value.
How can they educate their manager to have a broader view?
The situation that you describe is a common one. My answer asks
participants to take on issues that are difficult and offer no guarantees.
>From my own experience I know that it is not always possible or wise to
challenge someone of the system. However it can be done successfully. When
successful it often opens new doors to more effective relationships and
effectiveness.
Ian Saunders
Transition Partnerships - Harnessing change for business advantage
tpians@cix.compulink.co.uk
--tpians@cix.compulink.co.uk (Ian Saunders)
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>