Pollution Control

Pollution Control Agency Design –

Using systems thinking to redesign a service and enforcement organization, this was design thinking before its emergence, supercharged with systemic knowledge.  The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) embarked on their organizational redesign effort by drawing on the knowledge and engagement of a wide swath of formal and informal leaders throughout the agency, about 10% of total employees were involved with the design.

More than 100 employees and many external stakeholders were involved in the articulating the existing system issues, multiple performance goals, and the system characteristics that would enable the organization to achieve those goals. Ultimately this project led to a innovative design, and just as importantly, a widely engaged employee base. It was an exciting project to manage and deliver, and included managing expectations at many levels, dovetailing multiple areas of expertise, developing strategies to manage organizational resistance.