ABSTRACT
As we have seen in the previous chapter, strategic action is, to a signifi cant extent, a matter of personal competence, requiring a creative spirit, and “Zivilcourage.” However, it also demands substantive knowledge of the opportunities for change. We have seen that some of the more successful cases critically rely on a form of refl exive monitoring. That is, they involve strategically bringing together the expected effects of a plan, incumbent structures and ongoing structural changes, as well as exogenous trends. In this context, insights on multilevel dynamics as found in historical and complex system analysis may be of signifi cant help. However, in making them relevant in the practice of refl exive monitoring they have to be employed in a way that contributes to dealing with power and producing legitimacy. This requires that practitioners combine such “helicopter” insights with contextual, action-oriented knowledge. In the fi nal chapter of this part, we discuss the analytical perspective involved.
