Acting with systems intelligence: integrating complex responsive processes with the systems perspective

Abstract

The systems thinking literature assumes that the concept of a system is useful in management and organizational research. Ralph D. Stacey and his collaborators, however, have questioned this. They have presented the theory of complex responsive processes (CRP) as an alternative to systems thinking. We argue that systems thinking and the CRP perspective are complementary. The CRP illuminates many of the micro-behavioural, local interaction and creativity-related organizational phenomena whereas the systems perspective is useful for other purposes. CRP misses the mark in its criticism of systems thinking. The insights of CRP should and could be incorporated, not switched, with the systems perspective. The systems intelligence perspective, proposed by Hämäläinen and Saarinen, provides a framework to accomplish that. By integrating systems thinking and the CRP model we hope to provide a platform from which it is possible to appreciate the relative merits of the two apparently conflicting strands of thought.

Keywords:

• systems thinking
• complex responsive processes
• systems intelligence
• management
• practice of OR
• philosophy of OR