Is “the business case for systems thinking” oxymoronic?
Depends what you mean by systems thinking…. If you mean what Senge and the whole systems thinking community mean by systems thinking in its widest sense then maybe. It’s a bit like saying “what’s the business case for thinking”. Now that’d make a great philosophy exam question. And a great retort.
Why should we think – let’s weigh it up.
If we think about the other person, we might not do dumb things to them. If we think before we speak, we might say salient things. If we think before we act, we might do the right thing. Obviously thinking is a good idea. But no we need a business case…..
If we count up all the damage we do, when we don’t think – is it more than the cost of the thinking time? Well maybe. But we cant remove the 100m bits of thinking time cos they don’t add up to one member of staff in one place. So it doesn’t count.
And so it goes….
If we mean “systems thinking” in the Vanguard sense – a specific approach. Well it depends if it works, when it works and how much it works. But if you’re asking “what’s the business case?”, it hasn’t worked. QED or chicken and egg? You decide.
