Holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision Making

645 Pages·1998·42.37 MB·English

by  Allan Savory

About Island Press
Island Press is the only nonprofit organization in the United States whose princi-
pal purpose is the publication of books on environmental issues and natural
resource management. We provide solutions-oriented information to profession-
als, public officials, business and community leaders, and concerned citizens who
are shaping responses to environmental problems.
In 1999, Island Press celebrates its fifteenth anniversary as the leading provider
of timely and practical books that take a multidisciplinary approach to critical
environmental concerns. Our growing list of titles reflects our commitment to
bringing the best of an expanding body of literature to the environmental com-
munity throughout North America and the world.
Support for Island Press is provided by The Jenifer Altman Foundation, The
Bullitt Foundation, The Mary Flagler Gary Charitable Trust, The Nathan Cum-
min gs Foundation, The Geraldme R. Dodge Foundation, The Charles Engelhard
Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The Vira I. Heinz Endowment, The W. Alton
Jones Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation,The Curtis
and Edith Munson Foundation, The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The
National Science Foundation,The New-Land Foundation,The David and Lucile
Packard Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Surdna Foundation, The
Winslow Foundation, and individual donors.
About the Center for Holistic Management
The Center for Holistic Management was established in 1984 as an international
nonprofit corporation to advance the practice of Holistic Management and to
coordinate its continued development. The Center serves as the hub of an infor-
mation exchange network that includes an association of educators certified to
provide training in Holistic Management, practitioners who associate as learning
support groups or more formally as state, regional, or national affiliates, and a sis-
ter organization, founded in 1992, the Africa Centre for Holistic Management, in
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. To facilitate the flow of information, the Center pub-
lishes a bimonthly newsletter, Holistic Management IN PRACTICE, which regular-
ly updates the ideas presented in this book. The Center also hosts several confer-
ences on the Internet.
As this book was going to press, the Center's board and staff were in the process
of changing the Center's name to The Allan Savory Center for Holistic Manage-
ment in honor of its founder.
For more information, contact the Center for Holistic Management, 1010
Tijeras, NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102; tel: [phone]; fax: [phone];
e-mail: [email protected]; website: www.holisticmanagement.org.
Holistic Management

Holistic
Management
A New Framework
for Decision Making
Allan Savory
with Jody Butterfield
ISLAND PRESS
Washington, D.C. | Covelo, California
Copyright © 1999 Allan Savory
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conven-
tions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means with-
out permission in writing from the publisher: Island Press, 1718 Connecticut
Avenue, N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20009.
Island Press is a trademark of The Center for Resource Economics.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Savory, Allan, 1935-
Holistic management : a new framework for decision making / Allan
Savory and Jody Butterfield. — 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: Holistic management, 1988.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-55963-487-1 (cloth). — ISBN 1-55963-488-X (paper)
1. Environmental economics. 2. Sustainable development. 3. Human
ecology. 4. Natural resources—Management. I. Butterfield, Jody.
II. Savory, Allan, 1935- Holistic resource management.
III. Title.
HC79.E5S2823 1999 98-42237
333.7—dc21 CIP
Printed on recycled, acid-free paper (J)
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5
In memory of my father, J. H. R. Savory, O.B.E., a gentle soul whose
hue of nature and respect for wildness influenced me profoundly

Contents
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Part I Introduction
1 Changing the Way We Make Decisions 3
Part II Four Key Insights
2 The Power of Paradigms 13
3 The Whole Is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts 17
4 Viewing Environments a Whole New Way 28
5 The Predator-Prey Connection 37
6 Timing Is Everything 41
7 A New Framework for Management and
Decision Making 50
Part III The Power Lies in the Holistic Goal
8 Defining the Whole: What Are You Managing? 59
9 Forming a Holistic Goal: What Is It You
Really Want? 67
10 Developing a Sense of Ownership: Are You Sure That's
What You Really Want? 86
ix