A Thinking Person's Weight Loss & Exercise Program

Tools for Understanding Complex Processes:
Flowcharts and Lists of Periodic Events

Farrokh Alemi, Ph.D.
Ashraf Ismail, M.D.

Chapter 5 in “A Thinking Person’s Weight Loss and Exercise Program”

Introduction

This chapter describes two methods used to describe life processes—(1) flowcharting sequences of events and (2) making a list of periodic events—and gives examples of how individuals have used these tools to describe their lives.

Before a problem is solved it must be understood; before an improvement is made, the current process must be examined.  If people need to change their behavior, they need to understand how they maintain existing habits.  Without understanding, change is a shot-in-the-dark, a wild guess at what might work.  With understanding, by contrast, solutions can be tailored to one's needs—and chances of success can be improved.  A person may want to change a simple behavior (for instance, being late for appointments) or a very complex one (failing to lose weight).  But no matter how complex or how trivial the task, improvement starts from understanding.  This chapter shows how one gets on the right path for that—by describing a life process and gaining more in-depth understanding of oneself.

As noted above, people can use either flowcharting or lists to describe their life processes.  Some may prefer to use the former because it is a visual diagram that emphasizes the temporal nature of how one event leads to another. Others may find flowcharting too complex and prefer to make a list of periodic life events.  Both tools help individuals understand their lifestyles.  Both help us gain new insights into how we can improve. The choice between the two tools depends on individual preferences.  This chapter discusses both approaches so that you can decide what is best for you.

Why Construct a Flowchart or a List of Periodic Events?

            The reasons for asking people to construct either a flowchart or a list of periodic events appear below:

1. Understand that there is a process.  Often people think that their behavior is a function of their own personal decisions and actions—not influenced by an external process.  To help them focus on external processes and triggers in the environment, it is helpful to ask people to draw a flowchart or list periodic events in their lives.  Doing so helps them see how external influences affect their behavior.  It reveals the underlying process and helps them get away from a dysfunctional focus on motivation and effort.  
2. Gain insight into our lives.  We are not always aware of our own habits and life processes.  When we chart our lives or list periodic events, we gain better insight into our own behavior.  We often know what we are doing but not why we are doing it.  Charting helps clarify how various events affect our behavior. 
3. Determine whether the process meets current resolutions.  In many instances, we make resolutions but fail to follow through in our day-to-day lives.  Flowcharting current lifestyles or listing periodic events helps one see the discrepancy between one's intentions or claims and actual behavior.
4. Redesign the process.  The performance improvement team (see Chapter 4) may decide to modify the process to achieve a desired behavior.  To reach this goal, certain tasks may be added or deleted from existing processes.  Steps within tasks may need to be changed or executed in a different sequence.  All the proposed new changes need to be graphically represented in a flowchart or may be listed as periodic lifestyle events.  These representations help the team as well as the clinicians understand the new process.  In designing new life processes, flowcharting and making lists of periodic events are the starting point for planning a lasting new habit.  

 [[Notes on Figure 1 (I'm unable to open the figure)]

[move figure caption so that it's at the top of the figure]

[the definition of Operation is cut off, and the last line in Connector is partly obscured.]

[Check spacing between words in all boxes, especially Connector, which may run some words together]

[See below for figure placement]

Making a Flowchart

A flowchart is a map of a process.  It helps us understand the sequence of events that occur in a person’s life.  It is a visual representation that is easy to understand and interpret.  It shows how one event leads to another.  Once drawn it creates a common understanding on how the person’s life is organized.  Individuals have different backgrounds, cultures, and ways of thinking.  Two people may have entirely different processes for a simple act such as eating breakfast.  The sequence of the steps may be different (one may have coffee first, followed by toast; another may skip coffee); the importance of a step may vary (one may eat at a relaxed slow pace while the other eats in a car while hurrying to work); and the resources used may differ (cheese versus butter, for instance). 

How to Construct a Flowchart

            Before constructing a flowchart we need to learn about a series of symbols typically used in flowcharts.  Figure 1 shows these symbols.

[move Figure 1 here]

The steps in constructing flowcharts is as follows:

1. Determine the boundaries.  It is important for the team to define the process that will be flowcharted and the level of detail to be recorded.  A consensus should be reached at the beginning on the boundaries of this process, that is, the starting point ("What activity do I do first?") and ending point (“What is the very last thing that happens?"). The latter in most cases corresponds to the desired behavior.
2. List the events.  On a shared piece of paper or flip chart, individuals and their team members should list the major events in the process.  Brainstorming—a process in which ideas are sought without evaluation until all ideas are collected—should be used. Ask all team members to participate, for two reasons: first, everyone should have at least some knowledge of all pieces of the process, and second, everyone's contribution is potentially valuable since he or she may have a unique perspective on the sequence of events that leads to the desired behavior.  Make sure that events that lead to the desired behavior and those that lead to unwanted behavior are both listed.  Make sure the list includes and marks all relevant events.  Some participants list so few events that the tool's usefulness is limited. If the list is too general—citing, for example, "I gain weight because I eat"—it is of little use.  On the flip side, providing excessive detail—for example, providing details of how one sets the dining table—may also be prohibitive and counterproductive.  It is important to list a sufficient number of events that would help everyone get a comprehensive picture; while postponing the inclusion of some details. 
3. Sequence the events.  Order the events from independent activities (activities over which you have little control) to dependent activities (usually the desired behavior).  In the team's listing of the major events, find out what happens after the initial starting point. Place this step below or next to the starting point. Find and agree on the second event in the process. Place the step below or next to the previous activity.  Continue using the same technique until you reach the step that leads to the final event.  If multiple activities follow an event, draw multiple lines from that event to the events that follow it.
4. Draw appropriate symbols.  Now, after listing all the steps, use the symbols shown in Figure 1 as appropriate to build your flowchart.  Show the flow with arrows.  Arrows are better than just lines connecting the symbols because they clearly lead you to the next step.  Do not forget to label the arrows at the decision diamonds. 
5. Discuss the chart.  Allow sufficient time for discussion around the steps and their sequencing. This allows team members to learn from one another and better understand the process and its complexities, producing better end results when the team improves the process later.
6. Test for completeness.  It is important before finalizing the flowchart to check for its completeness.  This is often done by using the chart to analyze the events of a few days.  If all major events that are relevant to the final outcome are included in the chart, it is complete.  If a step needs more details, you can add them as appropriate.  Spend enough time with the team to ensure that each member has the same level of understanding of the process.

How to Use the Flowchart

Here are some ways you can use a flowchart:

1. Analyze the flowchart, looking for process "glitches": inefficiencies, omissions/gaps, redundancies, barriers, delays, etc.
2. Compare the current process against the ideal process for discrepancies.  See if the events in the flowchart agree with your resolutions.
3. Look for what works to use as "best practices."
4. Decide whether events within the current process can be influenced by noting the precedents to these events. 
5. Decide whether events within a process can be instrumental in changing other events by following where they lead.

A Sample Flowchart

The chart in Figure 2 is an example of a flowchart developed by a person trying to understand his daily routines. 

Figure 2:  A Simple Flowchart of One Person’s Weekday Routines

[Figure 2 notes:

-Some connector lines do not have arrows.

-Some boxes end with a period, others don't.

-There seem to be many spacing irregularities: "5 :00 a .m ." for example. This may be because of the PowerPoint conversion in Word.

-Correct names of products: Slim·Fast [that's a dot in between, but I'm sure a hyphen will do], Snack Pak Pudding

-Inconsistent and unnecessary capitalization: "Get Coffee and Biscotti"

-Unnecessary capitalization and misspelled words: "Fix dinner of Chicken breast and vegables... have lean cusine"—"Lean Cuisine" is also a trademark and should be capitalized]

Making Lists of Periodic Events

            If you find flowcharts too hard to make, an alternative is to make a list of periodic events.  Such lists are simpler to make but do not have information on sequence among the events.  Despite this shortcoming, these lists may be just as useful in understanding a process.  They are especially helpful in highlighting the link between daily living activities and the desired behavior change. 

Periodic lists are based on the principle that any system or process is best understood in terms of its “steady states”—that is, in terms of recurring events.  Life is not a random heap of events.  Some events recur, and they are referred to as routines, or as system analysts put it, “steady states” of the system.  Steady states or routines are situations to which a system left to its own means will tend to return.  These events are the organizing principles of our lives.  By listing them, a person can see the steady states for his or her system of life.  Behavioral tendencies, e.g., lack of exercise or overeating, are often expressed in or affected by these routines (e.g., shopping affects eating).  Examination of the routines reveals an individual's direction independent of his or her expressed wishes or desires.  By listing the various periodic activities, it shows the structure of one’s life.

There are many recurring events in a person’s life.  Most people sleep and awake according to a routine schedule.  Many eat at more or less regular times. Others work regular hours.  Even end-of-week socialization and partying follow certain routines.  A close look at anyone’s life reveals that many events happen periodically—some daily, others weekly, still others with longer periods.  The first step here is to list these periodic events.  It is not that non-routine events do not matter; they do, but the impact of routine events is by definition more frequent.  By understanding routine events we can comprehend a big part of life processes. 

The exercise of listing routines can be more difficult than it appears.  Some activities, like getting up and going to work, seem to follow a clear enough pattern.  Other activities, however, like disputes with a spouse, are not so typical and may not necessarily recur with a clear frequency.  It is important to include all periodic events, even if they do not always occur at the same frequency.  For activities with variable periods, the average time of recurrence should be recorded.  This exercise is difficult because the variability in a person’s activities must be distilled and ignored.  We acknowledge that life events do not necessarily occur at fixed intervals, which makes the task of recognizing what is routine and what is a rare, one-time event difficult.  Even more difficult is identifying events that occur with irregular frequencies.  When the exercise is finished, however, the hard work should pay off and you should be able to understand your life much better. The steps in constructing a list of periodic events are as follows:

1. Make a list of daily events.  One way to examine a person’s routine activities is to make a daily calendar, such as the one shown in Table 1.  The calendar should include all activities from morning to night for one week.  It is important to include as many activities as possible.  Special emphasis should be given to activities that might affect diet and exercise.  A list of near-daily (weekday) activities may include waking up, preparing breakfast, brushing teeth, taking a shower, getting the children ready for school, preparing lunch, commuting, working, eating lunch, meetings, coffee breaks, commuting back home, preparing dinner, eating dinner, looking over the children's homework, watching television, and sleeping. 

2. Make a list of less frequent but periodic events.  The next step with the activity calendar is to list the activities that a person may not engage in every week, but are nevertheless recurring events. A list of near-weekly activity may include washing clothes, taking the garbage out, cutting grass, going to friends’ houses, calling parents, eating out, playing on a team, listening to music, and so on.  A list of less-frequent-than-weekly periodic events may include having a dispute with your spouse, having stress at work, experiencing road rage, visiting a doctor, traveling, visiting parents, reading a book, and so on. It is crucial that you move away from daily living activities to include social and work-related activities that may affect your behavior.
3. Check the depth of the list.  It is not helpful to list events in extremely broad terms (for example, "I wake up and go to work and come home and sleep"); nor is it helpful to list everything that occurs.  You need to make a choice regarding what level of detail is useful. Enough details should be present that could help you understand what leads to behavior that you want to change.  Enough events should be listed that could articulate what is unique about your lifestyle. 
4. Check the list's accuracy.  The list's accuracy is monitored by carrying it around and checking that events listed actually occur and that there were no other major events.  For events that cannot be directly observed, one way of checking the accuracy of the list is to share it with others who have independently observed the event. 

How to Use a List of Periodic Events

            Once a list has been created, the individual needs to review each item on the list and describe how the item affects the behavior of interest.  Thus if you are trying to lose weight, and a list item is “shop for food,” the review will establish how the time, frequency, and content of shopping affect what is eaten.  If another item is “sleep,” the review will establish how the time and manner of sleeping affect eating. 

            Once the list has been created, it should also be used to make other team members familiar with the nuances of the person's life.

            Finally, when a solution is suggested, the team should examine the list to see how the proposed solution will affect existing routines.  The team should take components of the proposed solution and embed them in existing routines.

            In using a list of routines, it is important to search for the relationship between them.  Experience shows that routines feed into each other; they have to; they are part of a set of repeating events that have stabilized over time and are working with each other.  Modifying one will require changing many others.  You can understand better the relationship of routines to each other by clarifying how routines affect each other.  A tool for doing so is to search for cycles among routines.  By cycles we mean that you start with one routine and after going through several other steps you end up with the same routine.  For example, taking your morning shower at the gym might affect the need to take a shower at home when you wake up.  Thus the exercise and hygiene routines are related.  If you insist on shower at home before you go to your morning gym, it will be counter productive.  In contrast, by going to morning gym, you are not only exercising more but also taking a shower.  Figure 1 shows this cycle:

Figure 1:  Relationship between Morning Shower & Exercise

A search for cycles among your daily, weekly and monthly routines can help you understand how change could occur.

Discussion

            The study of systems requires new discovery tools.  This chapter has introduced two methods for studying systems: flowcharts and list (cycles) of routines.  Both approaches have advantages; a flowchart is more visual but listing is easier to accomplish.  It is not crucial to use one method versus the other: both focus attention on the interrelationship among people, events, and the environment.  Both approaches help describe a system—flowcharts do so by highlighting items that are interrelated; lists do so by focusing on steady states (routines) and cycles among them.