These sources examine the evolution and application of systems thinking as a transdisciplinary approach to managing complex organizational and social problems. The text outlines a transition from functionalist methods, which treat systems as objective and predictable, to soft systems and interpretive approaches that prioritise human subjectivity and multiple worldviews. Key frameworks like Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model and Checkland’s Soft Systems Methodology are analysed alongside emancipatory theories that challenge power imbalances and social oppression. The author introduces Critical Systems Thinking as a mature, pluralistic stage that allows practitioners to combine diverse methodologies to address multifaceted “messes.” Ultimately, the material serves as a guide for using holistic models to move beyond traditional command-and-control management toward more flexible, ethical, and effective interventions.
Sources
• Creative Problem Solving: Total Systems Intervention, Robert L. Flood and Michael C. Jackson, John Wiley & Sons (1991), ISBN: 0-471-93052-0, Link: wiley.com[1],[2]. • Critical Systems Thinking: A Practitioner’s Guide, Michael C. Jackson, John Wiley & Sons (2024), ISBN: 9781394203574, Link: wiley.com[3],[4]. • Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity: Responsible Leadership for a Complex World, Michael C. Jackson, John Wiley & Sons (2019), ISBN: 9781119118374, Link: wiley.com[5],[6]. • Systems Approaches to Management, Michael C. Jackson, Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers (2000), ISBN: 0-306-46500-0 (Print), 0-306-47465-4 (eBook), Link: wkap.nl[7],[8],[9]. • Systems Thinking: Creative Holism for Managers, Michael C. Jackson, John Wiley & Sons (2003), ISBN: 0-470-84522-8, Link: wileyeurope.com[10],[11].