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Simple_Complexity: A Management Book for the Rest of Us: A Guide to Systems Thinking
Every manager knows a business is a system, yet very few have studied systems thinking or system dynamics. This is a critical oversight, one which Simple_Complexity remedies. Simple_Complexity reveals the fundamental system archetype at work in your enterprise and prescribes new and exciting ways to re-invigorate your management thinking. Picking up where the greats in management thought leave off, Simple_Complexity provides a systems context that powerfully enriches traditional management thought and practice.
217 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 11, 2017
About the author
William Donaldson
1 book6 followersDr. William (Willy) Donaldson is a Professor of Management at the Joseph W. Luter, III School of Business at Christopher Newport University. Willy has over 35 years of experience as a Board member and President and has been CEO of 8 companies including a publicly traded company and an international joint-venture. Willy is the Founder and President of Strategic Venture Planning, a management consulting firm that assists boards, investors and senior management teams maximize results. His experience runs from start-up to Fortune 500 companies, from private to public companies, from services to manufacturing, from low to high-tech, and from for profit to not for profit. He is a member of the International Council on Systems Engineering, where he chairs the Enterprise Systems working group.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 13, 2023
Hat tip to Mark Gandy, host of CFO Bookshelf, for turning me on to this book, and for his interview of the author. Systems thinking is critical in business, but few people truly understand it. If you’ve read any of the literature, it can be quite turgid and complicated. William Donaldson has provided the antidote, A Management Book for the Rest of Us, as his subtitle reads. It is an excellent 185 page work that has many fantastic examples, along with the theory, of systems thinking. Here is how he describes it:
“Systems thinking derives its power from the philosophic concept of holism. The theory of holism states the parts cannot exist independent of the whole. you cannot understand the parts without understanding the whole and must understand that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. You must combat the reductionist tendency to look at your enterprise as a set of discrete parts to be optimized.”
As Donaldson says, “Your corporate culture is an emergent property of your system. Culture is a component of your system, one that you cannot address directly, because it emerges from the system.”
Finally he quotes Peter Senge, one of leaders in systems thinking:
Senge said the fifth discipline is systems thinking because “it is the discipline that integrates the disciplines.” “Perhaps the single greatest liability of management teams is that they confront these complex, dynamic realities [in their enterprises] with a language designed for simple, static problems.”
Donaldson sums up:
“I hope you can see that the complexity comes from an enormous number of simple elements, which interact on purpose. I hope you now behold the system in all of its Simple_Complexity. Life is too short to live in or be warden to a psychic prison. Build a system of shared purpose, vision, values, and commitment. Grant people clear, inspiring areas of freedom where they can grow and prosper.
“You’d best start believing in systems, you’re in one!”
I highly recommend this book.
“Systems thinking derives its power from the philosophic concept of holism. The theory of holism states the parts cannot exist independent of the whole. you cannot understand the parts without understanding the whole and must understand that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. You must combat the reductionist tendency to look at your enterprise as a set of discrete parts to be optimized.”
As Donaldson says, “Your corporate culture is an emergent property of your system. Culture is a component of your system, one that you cannot address directly, because it emerges from the system.”
Finally he quotes Peter Senge, one of leaders in systems thinking:
Senge said the fifth discipline is systems thinking because “it is the discipline that integrates the disciplines.” “Perhaps the single greatest liability of management teams is that they confront these complex, dynamic realities [in their enterprises] with a language designed for simple, static problems.”
Donaldson sums up:
“I hope you can see that the complexity comes from an enormous number of simple elements, which interact on purpose. I hope you now behold the system in all of its Simple_Complexity. Life is too short to live in or be warden to a psychic prison. Build a system of shared purpose, vision, values, and commitment. Grant people clear, inspiring areas of freedom where they can grow and prosper.
“You’d best start believing in systems, you’re in one!”
I highly recommend this book.
June 5, 2019
By luck this book came to me during a period of overlapping changes in our enterprise. The timing could not have been better, it had provided the seeds for multiple actionable insights.
March 28, 2021
Necessary for every Leader & Manager
This book has been an invaluable tool for our family business, and will be essential reading for everyone that is or will be in our system. As the world becomes more interconnected, adopting a holarchic mindset will be essential as this new normal continues to emerge.
This book has been an invaluable tool for our family business, and will be essential reading for everyone that is or will be in our system. As the world becomes more interconnected, adopting a holarchic mindset will be essential as this new normal continues to emerge.
May 2, 2024
no new ideas.
Can be replaced with just a list of what others have more clearly described. Mentions concepts from other books without explaining or expanding on concepts.
Can be replaced with just a list of what others have more clearly described. Mentions concepts from other books without explaining or expanding on concepts.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews