[Another hoary old article in the mainstream press – I think one recently started ‘Do you remember Systems Thinking? The Fifth Discipline?’ – this time a good reason to have a quick look at ‘systems thinking starts from defining an idealised future state’, used by some ‘complexity’ folk as part of their dig at ‘why systems thinking isn’t complexity-aware’. And indeed the article does suggest starting from that (and, aptly, confuses the North Star – a navigational aid – with a destination). I think this stems from Ackoff’s Idealised Design and from Senge’s popularisation of simplified stuff. It’s partly valid of course – Ackoff and Senge foreground ‘vision’ in different ways – but Ackoff was using it (a) as a way to remove mental constraints, (b) ultimately subject to feasibility and (c) with full recognition of ‘messes of messes’. And soft systems methodology, critical systems thinking, the viable systems model, critical systems heuristics, even system dynamics all emphasise complexity.]
It’s the best way to anticipate the many secondary effects of change in an interconnected world. by Tima Bansal and Julian Birkinshaw
Systems Community of Inquiry 