Seeing Systems: Unlocking the Mysteries of Organizational Life

Contents......Page 10
Preface to the Second Edition......Page 16
Prologue: Overcoming System Blindness......Page 17
Act I. Seeing the Big Picture......Page 32
1 Pinball......Page 33
2 The Manager of the Heart......Page 35
3 The Mystery of the Swim......Page 38
4 Seeing the Local Picture......Page 40
5 “Stuff” Happens......Page 41
Scene 2. From Spatial Blindness to Spatial Sight......Page 45
6 Seeing Context......Page 46
7 The “Truth” About Jack......Page 51
8 Charlotte Is a Problem......Page 53
9 Center Ring or Side Show?......Page 56
10 Times Out of Time: Seeing the Whole......Page 58
11 The TOOT Dilemma......Page 62
Scene 3. From Temporal Blindness to Temporal Sight......Page 64
12 The Invisible Histories of the Swims We Are In......Page 65
13 History’s Burst of Illumination......Page 67
14 Bart and Barb: A System Evolves . . . Perfectly......Page 69
15 “Anthropology” or Mick Gets Wiped Out......Page 77
16 Applied Anthropology: Unraveling System History......Page 89
Summary......Page 90
Act II. Seeing Patterns of Relationship......Page 92
17 What About All the Drama?......Page 94
18 The Dance of Blind Reflex......Page 95
19 Three Patterns of Relationship......Page 100
20 One Wakes, the Other Sleeps......Page 102
21 The Top/Bottom Dance of Blind Reflex......Page 103
22 It Takes Two to Tango . . . or Does It?......Page 111
23 Let’s Declare Bankruptcy: Transforming the Top/Bottom Dance......Page 114
24 The Universal Civics Course......Page 117
25 The End/Middle/End Dance of Blind Reflex......Page 120
26 Daniel: Mutant in the Middle Space......Page 128
27 Organizations in the Middle......Page 131
28 The Provider/Customer Dance of Blind Reflex......Page 132
29 Overcontrol or Transformation: The Mutant Customer......Page 137
30 The Unfairly Judged Professor (and the Righteously Done-to Students)......Page 139
31 Abused and Misused in the Space of Service......Page 143
32 The Web of Relationships......Page 148
33 How to Clean Sidewalks: It’s a Matter of Being......Page 151
34 Resistance or The Sound of the Old Dance Shaking......Page 152
35 How We Can See the Dance......Page 154
Summary......Page 158
Act III. Seeing Patterns of Process......Page 160
36 Are You Sure You Have It All?......Page 162
37 Turf Warfare, Alienation, and GroupThink: The Dance of Blind Reflex Continued......Page 163
38 Relationship Breakdowns in a Nutshell......Page 169
39 Territorial Tops: Stuck on Differentiation......Page 170
40 The Success of a Business, the Failure of Its Partners......Page 173
41 Learning from Experience: A Good Second Marriage......Page 176
42 Help! No Recovering Top Groups Sighted......Page 178
43 Advice for the Top Team......Page 179
44 Alienated Middles: Stuck on Individuation......Page 183
45 Alienation Among the Middles......Page 184
46 Can Alienated Middles Become a Powerful System?......Page 187
47 Mutant Middle Groups......Page 189
48 How to Create Powerful Middle Teams......Page 195
49 Bottom GroupThink: Stuck on Integration......Page 197
50 Immigrant Martha Has a Breakdown......Page 200
51 Where Is Everyone? A Mutant Bottom Group......Page 207
52 Power Is Managing Differentiation......Page 209
53 Creating Powerful Bottom Groups......Page 212
Scene 3. The Politics of System Processes......Page 214
54 Huddlers and Humanists . . . Enough With Consensus!......Page 215
55 Amebocytes and Slugs: The Politics of Individuation and Integration......Page 218
56 The Politics of Gender......Page 220
57 Or Would You Rather Be an Earthworm? Societal Implications of Differentiation and Homogenization......Page 223
58 Differentiation: Inquiry or Warfare?......Page 224
59 An Ode to Homogenization......Page 228
Scene 4. The Challenge of Robust Systems......Page 229
60 The Dominants and the Others......Page 230
61 Robust System Processes......Page 236
62 The Dance of the Robust System: Ballet Notes......Page 240
63 A Remarkable, If Somewhat Premature Epiphany......Page 244
Summary......Page 246
Act IV. Seeing Uncertainty......Page 248
64 The Emergence of Organizational Positions......Page 250
65 Individuals Facing and Escaping from Organizational Uncertainty......Page 251
66 A Mutant Moment in the Middle......Page 256
67 Dancing in and out of the Tunnel of Limited Options......Page 260
68 His Magic Consultant Card #2......Page 266
69 Groups Facing and Escaping from Uncertainty......Page 270
70 How to Transform Oppositional Struggles into Multifaceted Flexible Teams......Page 276
71 Not All Possibilities Are Possible......Page 282
72 Coping with Uncertainty Through Mythos and Logos......Page 284
Summary......Page 288
The Next Act—Seeing More......Page 290
Epilogue: A Continuing Revolution......Page 292
Notes......Page 298
About the Author......Page 302