Managing With Systems Thinking: Making Dynamics Work for You in Business Decision Making

by Michael Ballé

The common scenario when a problem arises in an organization is that management find a solution that is localized and focused on solving that specific problem - if your warehouse is failing to deliver on time, you need to address the failure and put it right. However, the problem may re-occur if the management decisions that allowed the difficulty to arise in the first place are not retraced and examined. Systems thinking is a framework that enables managers to exploit the commonsense, intuitive responses they may already follow when getting to the root of problems or inefficiencies in their organizations. By unravelling decision-making processes in a logical, systematic way, managers can address issues central to their organization, creating far-reaching benefits. This text is a practical guide to this method, popularized by Peter Senge's "The Fifth Discipline". It has a readable style, diagrams and anecdotal case studies that provide and explanation of the benefit and "how to" of systems thinking is a business environment. The text identifies areas of action and a seven-step approaaoch to systematic analysis.

200 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Antoine Bordas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une bonne intro à la pensée systémique, toujours d’actualité. Se lit simplement, bien illustré, avec des exemples business mais aussi littéraire et philosophique.

Je retiens le fait que manager en adoptant une vision système permet de résoudre profondément les problèmes que rencontrent son entreprise. Dans une entreprise traditionnelle, seul le ceo a une vue globale du système de son entreprise, vs chaque salarié ou head of qui a une vue de son système. Permet notamment de comprendre : les feedbacks loops, le retard, les écarts de connaissance entre les parties prenantes.
Michael Ballé montre le lien entre la pensée systémique est le lean : l’approche systémique enjoint son utilisateur à mieux comprendre et apprendre son système, vs une course aux chiffres.

Il revient également sur le fonctionnement du cerveau séparé en deux entre le cerveau gauche, celui de la logique, de la raison, de l’analyse et le cerveau droit, celui de l’intuition, de l’émotion, de la synthèse

[Zak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fast and simple refresher on systems thinking. Well explained, easy to read, makes the topic very accessible with some real insights to boot.