Articulate intervention revisited

Abstract

Articulate Intervention by Hylton Boothroyd was published in 1978. It offered a description of OR based on experience. Boothroyd said his aim was to explore what can and cannot be meant by the idea of intelligently directing human affairs, about the place of articulating our thoughts before acting, about the place of consultants in business, industry and government, and about the place of formal methods. At the time the book was widely acclaimed by both academics and practitioners. This paper sets out the main ideas encapsulated in Articulate Intervention, examines how they stand up to more recent experience and speculates on their inherent philosophical position. It is concluded that 30 years on the ideas are still relevant today and can provide the basis of a variant of what Ulrich calls critical pragmatism.

Keywords:

• process of OR
• philosophy of OR
• Popper
• pragmatism

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the extent to which he has drawn on the original work of Hylton Boothroyd and thank him for supporting the writing of this paper. The selection of the material, its presentation and interpretation is entirely the responsibility of the author.