ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 introduced some fundamental principles of systems thinking, and in this chapter we now go on to look at some key concepts which are of particular importance in performance improvement. These include:
• how different approaches to systems thinking may be classified • feedback, how interactions between system entities affect system behaviour • emergence, how system behaviour can generate unexpected consequences • causality, how one thing may or may not affect another • linearity and non-linearity, how cause and effect are not necessarily clearly
related • appreciation, how processes of analysis can create inappropriate solutions • requisite variety, the importance of considering the operational environment • single-and double-loop learning, the difference between doing things right
and doing the right things • wicked problems, how the reality of organisational life affects our decisions • complexity, the idea of dynamic stability and developing the optimum bal-
ance between order and chaos.
