Abstract
This paper examines work with managers who used a narrative approach to systemic thinking. Storytelling is incorporated within Mode 2 SSM involving a flexible approach to the analysis of complex or "messy" situations at work. Mode 2 SSM is presented as a thinking mode by those within the problem situation, involving the use of various devices of rich pictures, relevant systems, and root definitions, whereby managers and others may make sense of their experiences from within the flux of everyday life. The focus of the approach is learning through reflection on events and activities to consider potential actions and improvements in difficult situations. The findings show the initial difficulty and disappointment of learning to deal with complexity and the unexpected but how quickly the "gain outweighs the pain," as managers learned to attune themselves to the flux of situations, to identify how to work with flows and energies more creatively, and to become conscious of what was happening on the edge of awareness.
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Gold, J. Storying Systems: Managing Everyday Flux Using Mode 2 Soft Systems Methodology. Systemic Practice and Action Research 14, 557–573 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011921102732
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011921102732