What would it look like if we replaced "systems thinking" with "belief"?
It might look as if we had stopped "thinking" and begun "believing."
A "belief" is, in one sense, a tenet or a structure of convictions, in a
box.
Systems thinking wants to open that box so that its contents can be
subject to "thinking" rather than "believing": it does this, in part, by
placing the box of beliefs in a context, a setting, so that we can see one
or more ecologies of which the box of beliefs is a part.
For example: one can "believe" that there is such a thing a "learning
organization," and that it is characterized by 5 or 6 "disciplines," and
that all organizations ought to practice these disciplines, etc.
That "belief" is not systems thinking, but faith: a box of convictions.
Systems thinking might show us the relationships of that structure of
ideas, of beliefs, to the larger currents of thought and practice of our
time.
--Steve Eskow DrEskow@aol.com
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>