systems thinking – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen

By Scott J. Pearson | June 17, 2024June 17, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

American business culture is built around heroes that “save the day.” Perhaps bigger heroes, however, are those unheralded ones who quietly prevent problems from happening in the first place. To do so does not just require seeing a problem and a solution; it requires identifying the root cause and a solution to that root cause. It demands going “upstream” to deal with the issues that cause downstream issues. Dan Heath contends that few organizations and…

Thinking in Systems: A Primer

By Scott J. Pearson | April 27, 2024April 27, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Systems thinking is en vogue these days as we increasingly realize how complex the world really is. Too many manage enterprises based on small rules and adages, but neglect to see how the bigger picture works. Then they are surprised when their interventions end up with a different effect. That’s because the rest of the world works systemically through feedback loops. The small game is not the only relevant factor. Before she died, Dartmouth professor…

Management-Business Software-Technology

An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management

By Scott J. Pearson | April 12, 2024April 12, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Engineering presents unique challenges to managers. Not only are engineering managers usually picked from those who work primarily with objects, but they also receive little training in the discipline. Having little training reinforces a dynamic where little training material is also available to the next generation. To fill this void, Will Larson provides a succinct introduction to the field. His perspective aims to inform from a systems perspective – that is, by observing how managerial…

Leadership Management-Business

The Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well

By Scott J. Pearson | December 30, 2023September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

American business success tends to feed off a narrative of continual rise and winning. However, lives and careers are full of setbacks, and most do not know how to handle these towards a positive effect. Failing well is not an idea with wide acceptance. Many leaders fear permissiveness of failure will lead to a downward cycle in performance. Amy Edomondson, a business professor who studies organizational failures, believes that this pervasive culture needs to change.…

Management-Business

The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization

By Scott J. Pearson | November 9, 2019November 9, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

This book is the seminal statement of systems thinking – the philosophic idea that knowledge is increasingly aligned in groups of thought. And the goal of systems thinking is to produce an organization of human endeavors that – wait for it – learns. The learning organization trumps not only individual learners but also established organizations that have ceased to learn/grow/adapt effectively. While this might seem obvious to those (like myself) in research, much of this…