ABSTRACT
In 1963, before the conference in Washington where Eric L. Trist and Emery had presented a paper on turbulence, Trist went to the National Training Laboratory at Bethel, Maine, and met Robert Tannenbaum and two colleagues in psychology. Early in 1966, when Trist saw Dean Frederic Meyers to discuss possible appointments of candidates to the Graduate School of Business Administration Meyers asked if Trist was interested in joining the School. His original plan had been to spend five years in America, and then see if he could return to the United Kingdom to a senior role in institution building. Otherwise, it seemed he was looking at life in America until retirement. Trist was also faced with three major manuscripts and a complete revision of his work on science policy. Ackoff was disturbed by Trist’s misery and his being “distant from a decision.”
