Systemic Practice and Action Research

, Volume 19, Issue 1, pp 3–25 | Cite as

A Fresh Look at The Systems Approach and an Agenda for Action: Peeking Through the Lens of Churchman's Aphorisms

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This paper critically examines some important topics of systemic thinking to understand how our perception of problems can be enhanced and how the chances of deception can be mitigated while dealing with real-world problems. To achieve this objective, an attempt is first made to scrutinize some of the key issues of systemic thinking by looking through the lens of Churchman's aphorisms at: (1) the illusion of completeness and closure, (2) the meaning of holism, and (3) the concept of ‘Interbeing’. A preliminary ‘agenda for action’ is then laid out suggesting ways for increasing our perception and for minimizing the chances of being deceived in dealing with systems problems in practice.

KEY WORDS

agenda for action churchman's aphorisms completeness and closure deception holism ‘interbeing’ perception systems thinking 
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Civil EngineeringIllinois Institute of TechnologyChicagoUSA

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