"Critical holism: A critical systems approach to complex problem situations", Michael C. Jackson, 49th Annual Meeting of the ISSS, Westin Cancun, July 5, 2005, 9:10 a.m.

Michael C. Jackson

49th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences, Westin Cancun, July 5, 2005

These participant's notes were created in real-time during the meeting, based on the speaker's presentation(s) and comments from the audience. These should not be viewed as official transcripts of the meeting, but only as an interpretation by a single individual. Lapses, grammatical errors, and typing mistakes may not have been corrected. Questions about content should be directed to the originator. These notes have been contributed by David Ing (daviding@systemicbusiness.org) of the Systemic Business Community ( http://systemicbusiness.org ).

Introduction by Enrique

[Mike]

University of Hull Business School -- new building

First came to conference in 1979, in London -- 25th

First international conference in Washington

• Wrote a paper on Ackoff & Checkland, Ackoff said the didn't understand what he was saying

This talk is on management, and will try to address the conference theme

• Copies of this paper are available
• Need
• Benefits
• Creativity
• Nature of Creative Holism
• Potential Impacts of Systems on Society

Agenda

• Need
• Benefits
• Creativity
• Nature of Creative Holism
• Potential Impacts of Systems on Society

Nature:

• more complicated, more rapid change; challenges as a dean

Had written a 1995 paper on failure of management fads and panaceas

• They're not holistic enough, and not creative enough.
• Benchmarking, e.g. car from best parts
• Knowledge management is regarded in Japan as the western view in thinking about knowledge, need an organismic model, but actually need a social systemic model.

How we can be more holistic and systemic

• Against reductionism

Strength: transciplinary analogies

• Miller and Gerard were interested in what were in common; von Bertalanffy and Boulding were interested in what is different
• These aren't mutually exclusive

Structure and process

Understanding the whole is available only to God, and not systems thinkers

• West Churchman: understanding the whole is an ideal that we can approach
• Extended by Midgely
• Viewing systems from a point of view, also from Churchman
• Theoretical critique: need to understand, before critiquing

Think theory is crucial, to practice

• Kuhn: alternative theories are important to bring out scientific revolutions

Vickers: whole career in management, and then wrote when he retired

Schematic of development of applied systems thinking

Nature: creativity, choice, implementation, reflection

ISSS is not particularly well adapted to environment

Questions

Role of participation?

• Complex systems people think that you can understand a system by laws, then there's not much point in participation, because you know how the system will behave.

How to move forward (with the book)?

• Every day, may use systemic ideas, worth standing back.

Argyris & Schon: Organizational Defence Mechanisms?

Living systems?

• Yes, but experts. Socio-cybernetics is a bit softer.

Education?

• Learn multiple approaches, to not get locked into one view.