Book description
In this extensively revised and updated edition of his classic book, Barry Oshry shows how we can transform “system blindness” into “system sight,” enabling us to live and work together in productive partnership. Based on more than thirty years of research and packed with illustrative cases and solid systems theory on human interaction, Seeing Systems provides a penetrating look at the dynamics of systems and a unique foundation for revolutionizing our understanding of system life. This new edition features an extensive new section on having the wisdom and courage to face and work with the reality of uncertainty, and a new epilogue describing how Oshry is currently using theater, blogs, and podcasts to extend his multi-pronged revolution aimed at transforming system blindness into system sight.Table of contents
- Cover Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Prologue: Overcoming System Blindness
- Act I. Seeing the Big Picture
-
Act II. Seeing Patterns of Relationship
- Scene 1. Relational Blindness
-
Scene 2. From Relational Blindness to Relational Sight
- 19. Three Patterns of Relationship
- 20. One Wakes, the other Sleeps
- 21. The Top/Bottom Dance of Blind Reflex
- 22. It Takes Two to Tango . . . or does it?
- 23. Let’s Declare Bankruptcy: Transforming the Top/Bottom Dance
- 24. The Universal Civics Course
- 25. The End/Middle/End Dance of Blind Reflex
- 26. Daniel: Mutant in the Middle Space
- 27. Organizations in the Middle
- 28. The Provider/Customer Dance of Blind Reflex
- 29. Overcontrol or Transformation: The Mutant Customer
- 30. The Unfairly Judged Professor (And the Righteously Done-to Students)
- 31. Abused and Misused in the Space of Service
- 32. The Web of Relationships
- 33. How to Clean Sidewalks: It’s a Matter of being
- 34. Resistance or the Sound of the Old Dance Shaking
- 35. How We Can See the Dance
- Summary
-
Act III. Seeing Patterns of Process
- Scene 1. Process Blindness
-
Scene 2. From Process Blindness to Process Sight
- 39. Territorial Tops: Stuck on Differentiation
- 40. The Success of a Business, the Failure of its Partners
- 41. Learning from Experience: A Good Second Marriage
- 42. Help! No Recovering Top Groups Sighted
- 43. Advice for the Top Team
- 44. Alienated Middles: Stuck on Individuation
- 45. Alienation among the Middles
- 46. Can Alienated Middles Become a Powerful System?
- 47. Mutant Middle Groups
- 48. How to Create Powerful Middle Teams
- 49. Bottom GroupThink: Stuck on Integration
- 50. Immigrant Martha has a Breakdown
- 51. Where is Everyone? A Mutant Bottom Group
- 52. Power is Managing Differentiation
- 53. Creating Powerful Bottom Groups
-
Scene 3. The Politics of System Processes
- 54. Huddlers and Humanists . . . Enough with Consensus!
- 55. Amebocytes and Slugs: The Politics of Individuation and Integration
- 56. The Politics of Gender
- 57. Or Would You Rather be an Earthworm? Societal Implications of Differentiation and Homogenization
- 58. Differentiation: Inquiry or Warfare?
- 59. An Ode to Homogenization
- Scene 4. The Challenge of Robust Systems
- Act IV. Seeing Uncertainty
- The Next Act—Seeing more
- Epilogue: A Continuing Revolution
- Notes
- About the Author
Product information
- Title: Seeing Systems, 2nd Edition
- Author(s):
- Release date: August 2007
- Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
- ISBN: 9781576755358
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