A Lifetime of Systems Thinking
thesystemsthinker.com
A Lifetime of Systems Thinking
1–10 of 78 posts
Re: A Lifetime of Systems Thinking
#2> Effective research is not disciplinary, interdisciplinary, or multidisciplinary; it is transdisciplinary... Disciplines are taken by science to represent different parts of the reality we experience. In effect, science assumes that reality is structured and organized in the same way universities are.
Not just the sciences. Rigid, path-dependent taxonomies are a plague in all disciplines and in daily life.
Re: A Lifetime of Systems Thinking
#3It's the guy, Russell Ackoff! I still remember reading all about Systems Thinking from year 1. Do they still use the same material in Systems Design Engineering?
Re: A Lifetime of Systems Thinking
#4> The principal function of most corporations is not to maximize shareholder value, but to maximize the standard of living and quality of work life of those who manage the corporation. Providing the shareholders with a return on their investments is a requirement, not an objective.
I love this quote. At first it sounds very critical, but thinking about it more it reveals something deeper: companies are a collection of people, if those people aren’t satisfied with the work they will move on and delivering value to investors will be that much harder. So maximize for worker happiness while delivering enough ROI to your investors, not the other way around.
Re: A Lifetime of Systems Thinking
#5> Effective research is not disciplinary, interdisciplinary, or multidisciplinary; it is transdisciplinary... Disciplines are taken by science to represent different parts of the reality we experience. In effect, science assumes that reality is structured and organized in the same way universities are. Not just the sciences. Rigid, path-dependent taxonomies are a plague in all disciplines and in daily life.
it's especially a plague in medicine, though I'm reliably informed that a new movement within the medical establishment called integrative medicine may help to start treating human health as a system, not a collection of disparate parts.
Re: A Lifetime of Systems Thinking
#6> The principal function of most corporations is not to maximize shareholder value, but to maximize the standard of living and quality of work life of those who manage the corporation. Providing the shareholders with a return on their investments is a requirement, not an objective. I love this quote. At first it sounds very critical, but thinking about it more it reveals something deeper: companies are a collection o…
It’s a subtle distinction between labor and capital. And gets blurred by debt vs equity.
Who owns the company? The people who work there? The person who founded it? The people who the founders sold shares to? Or the people who lent it money?
Legally it’s the people who own shares. And if they miss their debt payments, it’s the lenders.
Companies can inform their shareholders “if you want to invest, here is how we operate differently.” Bezos and Buffet both do that in terms of defining focus and time horizons.
One may want to optimize for worker happiness first, but that’s not legal ownership. (Employee engagement is a predictor of shareholder return, but it’s hard to measure, and different from happiness)
Re: A Lifetime of Systems Thinking
#7Shiva Aayadurai also had some great content on this topic.. we need more of such people to carry the message forward in next generations
Re: A Lifetime of Systems Thinking
#8> The principal function of most corporations is not to maximize shareholder value, but to maximize the standard of living and quality of work life of those who manage the corporation. Providing the shareholders with a return on their investments is a requirement, not an objective. I love this quote. At first it sounds very critical, but thinking about it more it reveals something deeper: companies are a collection o…
Only maximizing happiness for the controlling workers. Fungible labor is going to be left out because moving on is no real threat from them.
Re: A Lifetime of Systems Thinking
#9> The principal function of most corporations is not to maximize shareholder value, but to maximize the standard of living and quality of work life of those who manage the corporation. Providing the shareholders with a return on their investments is a requirement, not an objective. I love this quote. At first it sounds very critical, but thinking about it more it reveals something deeper: companies are a collection o…
It’s a subtle distinction between labor and capital. And gets blurred by debt vs equity. Who owns the company? The people who work there? The person who founded it? The people who the founders sold shares to? Or the people who lent it money? Legally it’s the people who own shares. And if they miss their debt payments, it’s the lenders. Companies can inform their shareholders “if you want to invest, here is how we ope…
Except the quote isn’t about legal ownership it all. It’s about who has skin in the game, and who actually makes the company function.
The vast majority of shareholders have very little skin in the game, while the employees of the company absolutely have a lot of skin in the game. The employees depend on the company for their livelihood, whereas a shareholder is generally just trying to make money on their money.
Re: A Lifetime of Systems Thinking
#10Articles like this really drive home to me how much I appreciate this site and all it’s contributors and commenters. Thank you all!