http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_thinking
Systems science Impression of systems thinking about society. Systems science is an interdisciplinary field that studies the nature of complex systems in nature, society, and science itself. It aims to develop interdisciplinary foundations that are applicable in a variety of areas, such as engineering, biology, medicine, and social sciences.[1] Systems science covers formal sciences such as complex systems, cybernetics, dynamical systems theory, and systems theory, and applications in the field of the natural and social sciences and engineering, such as control theory, operations research, social systems theory, systems biology, systems dynamics, systems ecology, systems engineering and systems psychology.[2]
thinkLets / NeuroScapes PEACEparadigm ... Multiverse ... LostLegends ... Fifth Freedom i4CQuest ... Lessons NOT Learned ... SwiftTrust Theory of constraints The theory of constraints (TOC) is a management paradigm that views any manageable system as being limited in achieving more of its goals by a very small number of constraints. There is always at least one constraint, and TOC uses a focusing process to identify the constraint and restructure the rest of the organization around it. TOC adopts the common idiom "a chain is no stronger than its weakest link."
The Fifth Discipline The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (Senge 1990) is a book by Peter Senge (a senior lecturer at MIT) focusing on group problem solving using the systems thinking method in order to convert companies into learning organizations. The five disciplines represent approaches (theories and methods) for developing three core learning capabilities: fostering aspiration, developing reflective conversation, and understanding complexity.[1] The Five Disciplines[edit] The five disciplines of what the book refers to as a "learning organization" discussed in the book are: "Personal mastery is a discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively.
Complex system This article largely discusses complex systems as a subject of mathematics and the attempts to emulate physical complex systems with emergent properties. For other scientific and professional disciplines addressing complexity in their fields see the complex systems article and references. A complex system is a damped, driven system (for example, a harmonic oscillator) whose total energy exceeds the threshold for it to perform according to classical mechanics but does not reach the threshold for the system to exhibit properties according to chaos theory. History[edit] Although it is arguable that humans have been studying complex systems for thousands of years, the modern scientific study of complex systems is relatively young in comparison to conventional fields of science with simple system assumptions, such as physics and chemistry.
Systems Thinking Part 1: Philosophy - Teen Skepchick Students in my faculty of environmental studies are often presented with romantic ideas of interconnectedness, interdisciplinary approaches to their work and working within a worldview that counters traditional analytical and reductionist science. Unfortunately, instead of rigorously looking at what is wrong with traditional scientific approaches in their work, fixing it and coming up with a new approach they simply write science off as colonial or anti-feminist or whatever other buzzword they would like to apply. Then they pick a new, and often random, approach to their work. Rarely is the importance of solidifying the philosophy behind these ideas and mindfully focusing on a methodology to approach this philosophy stressed. It became apparent to me in my last year of undergraduate that both of these activities are necessary for rigorous social science, activism and real world interventions to be approached successfully. Is There a Problem with Traditional Science?
What is Lean The core idea is to maximize customer value while minimizing waste. Simply, lean means creating more value for customers with fewer resources. A lean organization understands customer value and focuses its key processes to continuously increase it. The ultimate goal is to provide perfect value to the customer through a perfect value creation process that has zero waste. How Does Your Project Portfolio Stack Up? -INNOTAS From day one, we are conditioned to compare. Whose baby has the cutest smile, who had the most hits in the Little League game, and what is your GPA and SAT scores? As we grow older the comparisons shift and the stakes increase – how am I doing vs. my peers, is my company performing well vs. my sector or industry, and how can I beat the competition?
System dynamics Dynamic stock and flow diagram of model New product adoption (model from article by John Sterman 2001) System dynamics is an approach to understanding the behaviour of complex systems over time. It deals with internal feedback loops and time delays that affect the behaviour of the entire system.[1] What makes using system dynamics different from other approaches to studying complex systems is the use of feedback loops and stocks and flows. Synthesis In general, the noun synthesis (from the ancient Greek σύνθεσις, σύν "with" and θέσις "placing") refers to a combination of two or more entities that together form something new; alternately, it refers to the creating of something by artificial means. The corresponding verb, to synthesize (or synthesise), means to make or form a synthesis. Synthesis or synthesize may also refer to: Science[edit] Chemistry and biochemistry[edit]
Theory of Constraints Overview Introduction Let’s Start By Stopping For A Moment Slow down, block out the rest of the world for a moment, and take the time to consider the following. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were waiting for someone to provide you with something, something that you must work on, and in-turn, which you had to pass on to someone else? Someone else who may have also been waiting for that particular piece of work?
Autopoiesis 3D representation of a living cell during the process of mitosis, example of an autopoietic system. The original definition can be found in Autopoiesis and Cognition: the Realization of the Living (1st edition 1973, 2nd 1980): Page 78: - An autopoietic machine is a machine organized (defined as a unity) as a network of processes of production (transformation and destruction) of components which: (i) through their interactions and transformations continuously regenerate and realize the network of processes (relations) that produced them; and (ii) constitute it (the machine) as a concrete unity in space in which they (the components) exist by specifying the topological domain of its realization as such a network. [1] Page 89:- [...] the space defined by an autopoietic system is self-contained and cannot be described by using dimensions that define another space. Meaning[edit]
Russell L. Ackoff Russell Lincoln Ackoff (/ˈækɒf/; 12 February 1919 – 29 October 2009) was an American organizational theorist, consultant, and Anheuser-Busch Professor Emeritus of Management Science at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Ackoff was a pioneer in the field of operations research, systems thinking and management science. Biography[edit] Russell L. Ackoff was born on February 12, 1919 in Philadelphia to Jack and Fannie (Weitz) Ackoff.[1] He received his bachelor degree in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania in 1941. After graduation, he taught at Penn for one year as an assistant instructor in philosophy.
Living systems Some scientists have proposed in the last few decades that a general living systems theory is required to explain the nature of life.[1] Such general theory, arising out of the ecological and biological sciences, attempts to map general principles for how all living systems work. Instead of examining phenomena by attempting to break things down into components, a general living systems theory explores phenomena in terms of dynamic patterns of the relationships of organisms with their environment.[2] Theory[edit] Living systems theory is a general theory about the existence of all living systems, their structure, interaction, behavior and development.