Systems Thinking

[Masud Sheikh]

A comment on Peter Senge and Systems Thinking.
Peter's initial interest in Systems Thinking started because he studied
Systems Dynamics (SD) with Jay Forrester at MIT. And certainly, the
emphasis in the Fifth Discipline is on SD. In his subsequent books, and
certainly his articles, one sees a definite broadening of interest and
inclusiveness.

I was introduced to some other types of systems thinking from The Dance
of Change, published in 1999. I also initially got introduced to Open
Space through SoL (The Society of Organizational Learning). But I am bit
of a fan of Peter.

The Beer Game is available through the Systems Dynamics Society (SDS),
to which I referred in an earlier email. If that is of interest, you can
easily find people through SDS who can run it for you (I can run it as
well, but I live in Toronto)

Best wishes
Masud

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Martin
Leith
Sent: March 2, 2004 2:58 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Systems Thinking

Esther,

If you go to the systems theory page of my (just resdesigned) website,
http://www.martinleith.com/other_topics/systems_theory.html, you'll find
links to some excellent sites.

Have you looked into the Beer Game, described on one website I've just
checked out as "Online supply chain management simulator", which is
mentioned in Senge's book, the Fifth Discipline? Senge's take on systems
thinking/theory is a little mechanistic for my taste (it's a version of
System Dynamics, which came out of MIT) but it will probably meet your
client's needs. The Beer Game will certainly provide an actual
experience of
unintended consequences.

You can save yourself the trouble of doing a Google search for the Beer
Game
by clicking on this link:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22beer+game%22

Hope this is useful.

Warmly,

Martin

Martin Leith
Movers and Shakers (currently administered by Martin Leith Limited)
10 Pembroke Street, Bristol BS2 8PZ, United Kingdom

Office telephone: 0117 963 3555 (+44 117 963 3555)
Home telephone: 0117 942 2727 (+44 117 942 2727)
Mobile: 07808 773713 (+44 7808 773713)
email: martin at martinleith.com
Movers and Shakers website: www.moversandshakers.ms
Personal website and free value creation resources: www.martinleith.com
Open Space UK: www.openspaceuk.com

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