The cult of performance: what are we doing when we don’t know what we are doing?

Title from:
Burke, R. (2004) ‘The cult of performance: what are we doing when we don’t know what we are doing?’, foresight, vol. 6, no. 1 [Online]. DOI 10.1108/14636680410531534.

"Being aware, when we don’t know what we are doing, of what we are doing assists in bringing people involved to the reality that not knowing what we are doing really is the situation." (Burke, 2004, p. 53).

Systems: false and useless?

Systems thinking: a false and useless systems-organic analogy promoting the ideology of unification and organisation for the benefit of the elite? (Oakes, 2012, noting arguments by Hammond and Lillianfeld).

Oakes, J. A. (2012) Criticism of Systems [Online]. Available at https://oakesj.wordpress.com/2012/09/08/criticism-of-systems/ (Accessed 24 December 2016).

The jargon problem

"We have developed a vocabulary that equips our students with the ability to speak
with authority about subjects they do not understand. Little wonder they do not
become effective spokespersons to potential users."

(From Why Few Organizations Adopt Systems Thinking - Ackoff Center).

"Dance with the system"

"Before you disturb the system in any way, watch how it behaves. Learn its history. Ask people who’ve been around a long time to tell you what has happened....learn to dance with the system" (Meadows in Bowman et al., 2015, p. 17).

Bowman, K., Chettleborough, J., Jeans, H., Whitehead, J., Rowlands, J. (2015) Systems thinking: An introduction for Oxfam programme staff [Online], GB, Oxfam. Available at http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/systems-thinking-an-introduction-for-oxfam-programme-staff-579896 (Accessed 16 December 2016).