Systems Thinking : Creative Holism for Managers

Rating:
Summary: A great systems theory source book
Review: As a long time student and teacher of systems thinking I welcome the addition of this book to the Amazon collection. As far as I can tell there is no other book that includes all the major developments in systems thinking over the last fifty years. This lack of a source book has in part meant that systems thinking has taken a back seat in management and business development in Europe.

The book starts by clarifying what the systems language means. As this a language that has been hijacked by colloquialism this section is an excellent primer for those wanting to understand the theoretical and philosophical roots of systems. This is followed by a look at applying systems thinking and in particular the creative nature of developments over the last couple of decades. This is an important aspect to be covered as many assume systems must be technical and rigid.

The bulk of the middle part of the book reviews the major developments in approaches, including Soft Systems Methodology, Complexity Theory and Systems Dynamics. These are clearly labelled, with background history, examples of application and clear illustrations. The value of each approach is explicitly stated in terms of management helping the reader to grasp which method might be most appropriate to their situation.

The final section helps the reader to decide how to maximise the benefit of the different holistic approaches. It draws them together using critical thinking approaches developed by the author and others. Examples of application are given although elements come across as a little too philosophical for the average manager.