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Dear Michel,
The fifth of Peter Senge's disciplines was Systems Thinking. (I know you knew that). They say The Fifth Discipline sold more than a million copies.
Triarchy authors John Seddon, Russ Ackoff, Bill Tate, Sally Bibb and Graham Leicester all harp on about Systems Thinking. (Phrasal credentials: Shakespeare used the expression 'harp on' in Hamlet.)
The result? A lot of people know Systems Thinking is a good thing but not many actually know how to do it. Which may be why we often get asked to recommend a practical guide to Systems Thinking. Now we can.
Rosalind Armson is a respected and experienced teacher of Systems Thinking. In her new book, Growing Wings on the Way: Systems Thinking in Messy Situations, she weaves together the professional and the personal benefits of being able to 'systems think' with her own case studies. Then she sets out the techniques that work best in approaching 'messes' (with rules and practical advice on each one):
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Escaping Mental Traps (History, Habit and Action Traps, Double Binds, Value Rigidity)
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Diagnosing with Multiple-Cause Diagrams
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Drawing and using Rich Pictures and Influence Diagrams
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Understanding messes with Systems Maps
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Building Human-Activity System Diagrams
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The 5Es (Efficacy, Efficiency, Effectiveness, Elegance, Ethics)
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Viewing messes through an Understandascope
If you've ever had to face a mess (from running a national health service to a departmental reorganisation, a company merger or caring for your elderly mother) this book has everything you need to unravel it.
Whether you’re new to Systems Thinking or an old hand, the book helps you work with your own messy situations. It’s aimed at managers, team leaders, strategists, policy makers, students and people with mothers.
Growing Wings is published this month. Order a copy now and save £5.
Thanks for reading,
Michelle Smith
PS The title? In Catch-22 Yossarian says, "We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down". This book says we can acquire Systems Thinking skills best by actually using them.
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About Triarchy Press
Triarchy Press is an independent publisher of books about organisations (and how they work) and about thinking (and how we do it).
admin@triarchypress.com ~ www.triarchypress.com
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