Campbell et al - Systemic Work With Organizations (1994) pdf torrent

Campbell, David
Systemic Work with Organizations: A New Model for Managers and Change Agents (1994). (Systemic Thinking & Practice Series)

EDITORS' FORE WORD
One of the unique features of this book is the fact that
the three authors, from very diverse backgrounds, have
come together at this particular time to create a conjoint
approach to work with organizations. From psychology and commerce
and engineering they have reached a common commitment
to a new way of understanding organizations. They are transposing
systemic thinking from its origins in the therapeutic and
academic world of the social sciences to the hard-edged world of
organizational life. For years it has seemed eminently logical to
think of organizations as systems, but no one has devised a method
for using these ideas to bring about change. Because the authors are
amongst only a handful who are applying these new ideas as
consultants to a range of public and private sector organizations,
they are preoccupied with the problem of understanding and
evaluating their own work: "What works in which situation ...
and what doesn't work . . . and why?" Their aim is to gather their
experiences together into a methodology that will enable other
practitioners to use these ideas.
Why should this book be appropriate at this particular time? As
editors we believe that the ideas in the book mirror the increasing
complexity of life today and the need to acknowledge an increasing
range of views and opinions about any issue. The days of simple
structures and easy explanations are gone, and practitioners need
tools to help them make sense of this emerging diversity. We see
systemic thinking?and its application called constructionist consultancy ?
as just such tools.
We are also aware that this book introduces this Series to a
new market. It aspires to create new ground?between the social
scientists and organization change agents?where new thinking
can be applied to old problems and where old ways of thinking
can be challenged with new techniques. The authors wrote with a
new audience in mind because they believe that increasingly
complicated organizational problems require a different kind of
practitioner than has existed before. They have tried to make the
book and its ideas as accessible and concise as possible, knowing
full well that some people find the language of systems thinking
very strange, and that managers and consultants do not have time
to wade through lengthy tomes to garner fresh ideas.
We hope familiar readers will find systemic ideas placed in new
contexts; for those of you coming to this field for the first time,
welcome!

David Campbell
Ros Draper

London
October 1994