| Most organizations can't execute strategy. Complexity is their enemy. A shared model (vision) of the strategy is the best way to cut through complexity. Unfortunately, developing clear and compelling visions to guide organizations is an art mastered by very few leaders. Are we condemned to wander aimlessly until a great leader develops a vision? System dynamics can make a science of visioning. Managing from Clarity provides a roadmap for introducing systems thinking to your organization. Read it; it's a snapshot of how strategy will be managed in the 21st Century. (David P. Norton, President, Balanced Scorecard Collaborative, co-author of the best-selling The Balanced Scorecard and The Strategy-Focused Organization) If you're not a systems thinker, you're not a good business leader. A few born leaders do it through intuition. For all the rest, there's Managing from Clarity. The book will spell out for you how to build your strategic agenda and how to align your leadership team around it. (Francis Gouillart, CEO, Emergence Consulting, co-author of the best-selling Transforming the Organization)
Since Jay Forrester published Industry Dynamics and single-handedly laid down the foundations of system dynamics, several of his disciples have conducted many powerful consulting interventions in corporations all over the world. Three decades later their practices are still transmitted mostly through apprenticeship, thus limiting the expansion of the discipline and the benefits it brings to the world. With this book, Jim and Hal turn the art of system dynamics interventions into science for the first time. For those of us who live the successes and the frustrations of organizations every day, this is a gift every bit as wonderful as Dr. Forrester's. (Jorge Rufat-Latre, Director, Strategos)
This method really works! In 1999, the Strategic Decision Simulation Group applied the methodology described in this book to a pilot urban planning initiative in Honduras' capitol city, Tegucigalpa, shortly after that country, including Tegucigalpa, had been devastated by Hurricane Mitch. Participants in the initiative included representatives of the Government of Honduras, the Tegucigalpa Municipality, communities, and urban planners (including renowned Fregonese-Calthorpe Associates), and CARE-International. All the participants rated the SDSG methodology "excellent" because it enabled them to share mental models in a non-intimidating way, appreciate the social, economic, and environmental connections, feedbacks, and delays, and reach consensus on the problems they faced and opportunities for solutions (leverage points). I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a practical tool to help analyze and solve complex problems in a participatory and systemic manner. (Peter Heffron, Best Practice Planning, Hilo, Hawaii, USA) (formerly with CARE-International)
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