CTC Organizational Culture & Systems Thinking Flashcards

In systems thinking, what does 'emergence' refer to in a team coaching context?

Answer: New properties or behaviors that arise from team interactions that cannot be predicted from individual members alone

Emergence describes how team-level behaviors, culture, and outcomes arise from interactions between members in ways that transcend any individual contribution.

Which of the following BEST describes a 'mental model' as used in organizational systems thinking for team coaching?

Answer: Deeply held internal images, assumptions, and generalizations that influence how people see the world and act

Mental models are the often-unconscious assumptions and worldviews that shape how individuals and teams interpret situations and make decisions.

A Certified Team Coach notices that a team consistently blames external factors for their failures. From a systems thinking perspective, this is best described as:

Answer: A lack of systems awareness — the team is not seeing its own role within the larger system

Systems thinking teaches that teams are part of the systems they operate in and that blaming 'the environment' often masks a team's own contribution to outcomes.

What is the role of a CTC when working with a team embedded in a dysfunctional organizational culture?

Answer: Help the team develop awareness of how the organizational system shapes their behavior and identify what is within their sphere of influence

A CTC helps teams understand the systemic forces acting on them and expand their capacity to act within — and potentially influence — the broader system.

In Schein's model of organizational culture, which level is MOST difficult to access and change?

Answer: Basic underlying assumptions (unconscious, taken-for-granted beliefs)

Basic underlying assumptions are the deepest level of culture — unconscious, rarely questioned beliefs that drive behavior and are the hardest to surface and shift.

Why is understanding 'feedback loops' important for a Certified Team Coach?

Answer: To recognize how team behaviors are reinforced or counteracted by the systems and responses around them

Feedback loops in systems thinking show how outputs of a team or organization circle back to influence future inputs, either amplifying or stabilizing behaviors.