Systems Thinking: Creative Holism for Managers

While writing Service Thinking: The Seven Principles To Discover Innovative Opportunities (http://www.amazon.com/Service-Thinking-Hunter-Hastings) Jeff Saperstein and I researched a number of books to guide the application of systems thinking to management challenges. I discovered this one after going to publication on Service Thinking, so it's not referenced. It provides an excellent overview of all the systems thinking genres, their history, pluses and minuses, and where and how to apply them. It provides a great starting point for further inquiry, and I recommend it.

Great outlines for a complex project overview of the whole.

Complicated but complete

This book is prescribed for a programme I am currently doing with the Unversity fo Stellenbosch and I found it so relevant to managers even if the are not studying because our challenges revolve around systems

This book offer a very good overview about system thinking and add a lot of good examples and reflections. I reallly recommend

Not the easiest read, but if it's thinking you want, it's thinking you're gonna do.

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.

This book is excellent for those new into systems thinking. I have to note that the book can be considered too academic.

This is Mike Jackson's update on Flood and Jackson total systems intervention (TSI) book from 1991 book. The part about postmodernism is interesting, but I agree with Gareth Morgan that complexity theory is the mathematical theory of postmodernism, meaning that CAS should be considered part of the complex-coercive category rather than the complex-unitary. I also doubt that 'multi-methodology', argued by Mingers and others, is theoretically better than the original TSI approach. I think Jackson should have stuck with the falsifiable theory of TSI rather than developing a fuzzy theory of holistic management practice. Nevertheless, it is a fascinating book. Whatever happened to Flood and Jackson after their extreme productivity in the 1980s and 1990s? If there is anything the world needs right now, it is stronger focus on critical systems thinking (CST) and practice (CSP).

Great book with basic for the systemic thinking. I had interesting lectures from the book then I decided to buy it to get deeper into the subject and I am happy, I did it. It is easily readable but some of the words can be a bit hard for total beginner - I would suggest, if you do not understand some of phrasing; check it and carry on reading.

good value for money - very relaibel dealer