Systems Thinking for Effective Managers
The Road Less Travelled
- Prashun Dutta - Advisor, Gaia Smart Cities, Mumbai
Traditional education has been extremely biased towards science, owing primarily to the success that science has demonstrated in the last three centuries. While the methods of science are greatly, if not fully, responsible for its success, these are grossly inadequate in the context of societal systems and the complexities that managers and leaders deal with.
The real world is markedly different and heavily interconnected. Systems thinking is the perfect antidote to the stagnation that characterizes managerial theories and practices. Conventional management, constrained by a sanitized world view, is no longer able to deliver as it did in the past. Expanding horizons and thinking holistically unveils the big picture and builds a body of knowledge more suited to the changing times we live in.
“… a thought-provoking book … a compelling case for a ‘holistic’ approach for decision-making in organizations … will appeal to both the management thinker and the thinking manager.”
“… a thought-provoking book … a compelling case for a ‘holistic’ approach for decision-making in organizations … will appeal to both the management thinker and the thinking manager.”
“… an intellectual masterpiece … the author has illustrated the inadequacy of scientific approach in general management, … articulating various systems-based approaches … that help steer with dexterity in innumerable … situations—simple or complex!"
