Table Of ContentSYSTEMS THINKING FOR
HARASSED MANAGERS
NANO McCAUGHAN
BARRY PALMER
K A R N A C
SYSTEMS THINKING
FOR
HARASSED MANAGERS
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SYSTEMS THINKING
FOR
HARASSED MANAGERS
Nano McCaughan & Barry Palmer
Forewords by
Charles Hampden-Turner
Ian Sparks
Systemic Thinking and Practice Series
Work with Organizations
Series Editors
David Campbell & Ros Draper
London
K A R N AC B O O KS
First published in 1994 by
H. Karnac (Books) Ltd,
118Finchley Road,
London NW3 5HT
Reprinted 2004
Copyright © 1994 by Nano McCaughan and Barry Palmer
The rights of Nano McCaughan and Barry Palmer to be identified as authors
of this work have been asserted in accordance with §§77 and 78 of the
Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the
publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CLP. for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978 1 85575 055 5
www.karnacbooks.com
Printed & bound by Antony Rowe Ltd, Eastbourne
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank the managers of The Children's Society,
who have sponsored and supported our recent courses; and the
managers of the London Borough of Croydon Social Services
Department, who supported the earlier courses.
We would also like to thank all the managers who have worked
with us over the last eight years and have generously shared their
problems and their insights with us and with each other.
And we would like to thank Jane Aaron for her helpful com
ments on drafts of chapters one, two, and six, and Oula Jones for
generously agreeing to compile the index.
v
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS V
EDITORS' FOREWORD xi
FOREWORD by Charles Hampden-Turner xiii
FOREWORD by Ian Sparks xix
Introduction 1
Our purpose / 1
Where we are coming from / 3
"Change Without Chaos?" I 4
The case material / 5
CHAPTER ONE
Going round in circles 6
A "difficult" individual / 8
When is a team not a team? / 10
Systems thinking / 11
vii
Viii CONTENTS
linear and circular processes / 12
Organizations / 15
Organizations as systems / 16
Conflict and collaboration / 19
CHAPTER TWO
What's the problem? 21
Snares / 22
Hard and soft problems / 24
Malfunctions / 24
Problems are made and not born / 26
Dynamic complexity / 26
Unmaking problems / 27
Beginning / 29
The tension between listening and intervening / 30
CHAPTER THREE
Asking the right questions 32
Listening and clarifying / 33
Systemic questioning / 36
Establishing circuitry / 37
Establishing patterns / 39
Exploring meaning / 42
Exploring covert rules / 46
Exploring the time dimension / 47
Types of questioning / 47
Pig in the middle / 52
CHAPTER FOUR
Constructing hypotheses 54
Introduction / 54
What is a hypothesis? / 57
Hypothesizing and curiosity / 58
Linear and circular hypotheses / 59
Positive feedback and schismogenesis / 61
Negative feedback / 63
More complex feedback patterns / 65
Articulating rules / 66
CONTENTS ix
New stories for old / 67
Refraining / 69
Positive connotation / 70
Working with hypotheses / 71
CHAPTER FIVE
Finding a new course 79
Paradox / 80
Addressing the covert logic / 81
Straight interventions / 82
Paradoxical interventions / 85
Looking for leverage / 92
Including the complainant / 94
CHAPTER SIX
Theoretical postscript 96
Identity and organizational change / 96
Paradox / 100
Unconscious processes in organizational life / 105
Systems archetypes / 108
Mapping dilemmas / 112
APPENDIX
How we introduce course participants to systems practice 117
Participants / 117
The consultation exercise / 118
Introductory sessions / 121
Theory sessions / 121
Other learning methods / 122
Testing what has been learned / 123
Ending / 126
REFERENCES 127
INDEX 131
