Systems Thinking: Managing Chaos and Complexity: A Platform for Designing Business Architecture
Author: Jamshid Gharajedaghi
This book is a direct result of the author's work with the systems methodology first introduced by the author's partner, Russell Ackoff.
It's a holistic approach to systems methodology. It deals with all dimensions of a system: structure, function and process. Peter Senge introduced Systems Thinking/practice. Interact clients asked the author to write a book to take them "further down the Senge trail". This book does that by taking the reader into "real world" stories. It is based on experiences in five real companies using systems practice.
It is about a new mode of seeing, doing and being in the world; a way of thinking through chaos and complexity. It speaks to those thinkers and practitioners who have come to realize that learning "to be" is as much a necessary part of a successful professional life as is the learning "to do."
Natural science has discovered "chaos". Social science has encountered "complexity." But chaos and complexity are features of our perceptions and understanding. We see the world as increasingly more complex and chaotic because we use inadequate concepts to explain it. When we understand something, we no longer see it as chaotic or complex. It seems that playing the new game requires learning a new language. A language of interaction and design that will allow us to see through chaos and understand complexity.
In a nutshell, this book is about systems. However, it goes beyond the simple declaration of desirability of systems thinking. With a practical orientation and yet a profound theoretical depth, the book offers an operational handle on the whole by introducing an elaborate scheme called iterative design. The iterative design explicitly recognizes that choice is at the heart of human development.
Development is the capacity to choose; design is a vehicle for enhancement of choice and holistic thinking. Designers, in this book, seek to choose rather than predict the future. They try to understand rational, emotional, and cultural dimensions of choice and to produce a design that satisfies a multitude of functions. They learn how to use what they already know and also about how to learn what they need to know.
Booknews
Gharajedaghi (president and CEO of INTERACT) goes beyond the simple declaration of the desirability of systems thinking and provides a practical orientation along with a theoretical depth. He operationally deals with the art of simplifying complexity, managing interdependency, and understanding choice using a novel scheme called iterative design. Twelve chapters discuss systems philosophy, theories, methodology, and practice. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Table of Contents:
| Ch. 1 | How the game is evolving | 3 |
| Ch. 2 | Systems principles | 29 |
| Ch. 3 | Systems dimensions | 56 |
| Ch. 4 | The sociocultural model : information-bonded systems | 83 |
| Ch. 5 | Systems methodology | 107 |
| Ch. 6 | Defining the problem | 131 |
| Ch. 7 | Designing business architecture | 152 |
| Ch. 8 | The Oneida Nation | 187 |
| Ch. 9 | B utterworth Health Systems | 222 |
| Ch. 10 | The Marriott Corporation | 260 |
| Ch. 11 | Commonwealth Energy Systems | 270 |
| Ch. 12 | Carrier Corporation | 297 |
Look this: Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data or Improving Performance
Verbal Judo Way of Leadership: Empowering the Thin Blue Line from the Inside Up
Author: George J Thompson
What you say and how you say it critically impacts the outcome of your contact with people... be it individuals on the street or officers in your agency.
- Discover the linguistic structures and strategies that make Verbal Judo so popular.
- Learn to apply both the art and science of using words and phrases to lead, persuade, clarify, diffuse and generally navigate nearly any situation.
- Become a solid, respected and highly effective leader!
Effective communication makes effective leaders!
Learn:
- 3 key leadership ingredients
- Behavior correction skills
- Real lessons from the field
- How to avoid ego errors
- Communication profiling
- The true power of listening
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