Systems Thinking for Curious Managers

The late Russell L. Ackoff was the Anheuser-Busch Emeritus Professor of Management Science at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He wrote numerous books on Systems Management, the most recent of which were Beating the System, co-authored with Sheldon Rovin, Re-Designing the Corporation, Ackoff's Best and Idealized Design, co-authored with Jason Magidson and Herbert J. Addison.

A founding member of the Institute of Management Sciences, his work in consulting and education involved more than 350 corporations and 75 government agencies in the United States and beyond. Management grandee, he was ranked 26 in a recent list of the world's most influential business thinkers.

"* "One of the biggest breakthroughs in how we understand and guide change in organizations is systems theory and Systems Thinking." Dr Carter McNamara * "...taking a Systems Thinking approach we have achieved transformational results in a matter of weeks and months, not years." Denise Lyon, East Devon District Council * "Systems Thinking offers a powerful new perspective, a specialized language, and a set of tools you can use to address the most stubborn problems in your everyday life and work." Pegasus Communications * "Systems Thinking is both a mindset and set of tools for identifying and mapping the inter-related nature and complexity of real world situations. It encourages explicit recognition of causes and effects, drivers and impacts, and...helps anticipate the effect a policy intervention is likely to have..." UK Cabinet Office: Prime Minister's Strategy Unit * "...one of the most influential management gurus of the 20th century... His ideas about systemic thinking are vitally important today if the world is to come out of the current economic crisis in better shape than it went into it." The Economist * "The Einstein of Problem-Solving" Steven Brant, Huffington Post * "...a too well-kept secret... a brilliant thinker" Stefan Stern, Financial Times * "In a world of high sounding qualifications, Professor Russell Ackoff was a genuine subversive.... businesses - and many other organisations - still have lots to learn from him." Peter Day, BBC"