Seeing Systems
Unlocking the Mysteries of Organizational Life
By: Barry Oshry
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781881052999
Format: Paperback, 228pp
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc
A pattern is not personal nor specific to any given organization. It is systemic, writes Barry Oshry in the revised edition of his classic book about organizational systems and power
Seeing Systems: Unlocking the Mysteries of Organizational Life. In this definitive textbook on finding and understanding patterns within organizations, Barry Oshry demonstrates how to move past system blindness and the failure to recognize patterns, toward system sight where people live and work together productively.
Barry Ohsry begins with the insight that humans systems creatures. Human consciousness is shaped by the very systems that make up people's lives. Whether at work, home, or leisure, systems evolve in roughly the same format. There are people at the top, the middle, and the bottom, with customers and clients who interact with the systems from the outside. Instead of seeing these systems as personal and ego-centric, the author views them as patterns. The paradox discovered in the book is once system sight is developed and understood, the individual finds more personal empowerment within the system.
Barry Oshry (photo left) possesses the unique skill of taking a potentially daunting subject, systems and organizational behavior, and making the concepts easy to grasp and understand. Through the use of story and analogy, complex issues are rendered into human terms, and reflect the overall themes of the book. The author's story based format is ideal for developing pattern recognition within organizations, by employing that that method to write the book. When familiar patterns emerge based on the overall system, instead of basing impressions on the unknown motivations of individuals, true systems sight and understanding will emerge.
For me, the power of the book is its deep insight into the nature of organizational behavior, and the similarities and common features shared by all systems. Barry Oshry presents complex systems and organizational analysis in a clear and understandable format in the form of story telling. Without the book's emphasis on seeing and recognizing systems, a person can be lost and feeling powerless. By demonstrating the patterns that emerge in all organizations, the author shows how to avoid conflict, misunderstanding, attributing fictional motives to other members of the organization, and how to become an empowered member of the system.
I highly recommend
Seeing Systems: Unlocking the Mysteries of Organizational Life by Barry Oshry, to anyone who wants to understand how systems develop, and how to recognize the characteristics of those systems. By learning how to see systems in all facets of a person's life, the individual can take control of their own actions within the system, ending frustration and conflict.
Read
Seeing Systems: Unlocking the Mysteries of Organizational Life by Barry Oshry, and learn to see systems, instead of stumbling along blindly believing incorrectly that personalities are in control. This book will help you to see what is really taking place in your organization, giving you the power to be in charge of your own life.
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