Systems thinking - an oxymoron?
A contributor on LinkedIn had wisdom to write: "A system is. Anything that follows that is either redundant or restrictive."
My response:
To some extent I agree, but perhaps not for obvious reasons.
I dropped out of system thinking dialogue for the lack of in-depth consideration of natural systems that ... well, are natural and work.
In particular, the role of quantum coherence in organising systems.
As this article explains:
"Molecular biologists "are trained to look at the molecule," Engel said. "We don't usually design systems. We design molecules. The question becomes: Which aspects of this do we strive to recreate? We are very interested in the design principles. How could you design one of these?"
I believe that unless you're talking quantum principles, as applied to systems, you're wasting time (pun not originally intended, but in hindsight, a good one ... in that with quantum coherence there is an immediate "at-once" connectedness to life, that obviously wastes no time whatsoever. Can't get more efficient than that, or more effective and immediate :).
Forgot to explain, the at-once nature of systems, and quantum coherence, cannot be thought or analysed. No system of thought is fast enough to work immediately.
It becomes intuitively-geared, so talking about all this stuff is not what comprises effective systems.
So your statement is, in this context, correct - that any theory, discussion or intellectual analysis is, in fundamental terms, restrictive.
Comedians, artists, inventors and entrepreneurs have known this since whenever.
It requires working off gut-feelings. It means trusting our spontaneity.
The explanations and analysis come later. By which time the entrepreneur, artist and comedian has already moved on.
Update - December 20th, 2011
And of course -- children. As the Bible explains "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Spontaneity, childish playfulness is a requisite for entering the kingdom of productive-creativity.
So many serious people just don't get it. They're stuck in 'command and control' territory, wondering how to keep hold of their 'stuff'.