Systemic Work With Organizations

Systemic Work with Organizations explores a powerful new perspective on the challenges faced by managers and consultants who work in large organizations. Building on principles and methods originally developed in the family arena, the authors show how an emphasis on connection, context and communication can help managers and others involved in change, deal with issues of identity, leadership, and learning faced by staff in today's complex work environment.The main thesis is that one way cause and effect thinking and a central focus on the role of the individual, is no longer sufficient. Managers and change agents now need to make use of the insights and interventions offered by a systemic perspective that highlights the roles played by circularity and reflexivity in how people construct shared meaning in human systems.

This book looks at organisational problems occurring in a particular context, and clearly traces the way problems arise out of relations amongst the different parts of the larger system. It also pursues the meanings that these problems have for individuals and organisations alike. The authors, who are both practitioners experienced in working with organisations, show how their ideas can be implemented in different settings.

This volume provides a positive and productive model for helping people to move out of static positions or difficult relationships in the workplace. Informed by systemic thinking and social constructionism, the authors discuss how it is possible to create realities through dialogue and to enable greater opportunities for the employee, manager and consultant alike. Taking Positions in the Organization uses a model of semantic polarities to create simple solutions to complex problems in a format which will inform and enthuse all its readers.

Large Group Interventions are methods used to gather a whole system together to discuss and take action on the target agenda. That agenda varies from future plans, products, and services, to redesigning work, to discussion of troubling issues and problems. The Handbook of Large Group Methods takes the next step in demonstrating through a series of cases how Large Group Methods are currently being used to address twenty-first-century challenges in organizations and communities today, including: Working with widely dispersed organizations, and the problem of involvement and participation Working with organizations facing a serious business crisis Working with organizations in polarized and politicized environments Working in community settings with diverse interest groups Working at the global level and adapting these methods for cross-cultural use Embedding and sustaining new patterns of working together in organizations and communities

Leading at All Levels: Using Systemic Ideas to Get the Most from the Workplace moves away from traditional perspectives on leadership and, utilising ideas from systemic consultation, provides a rationale for leadership at all levels, emphasising the potential of everyone in organisations to lead in their own area of work. Reviewing the theory of resilience and its place in organisational life, the book provides guidance on how to foster resilience in the workplace. Written in accessible language, the book is divided into three sections: on work and leadership, on problem solving and finally on approaches to leading at all levels. A variety of perspectives on leadership are explored, as well as barriers to effective leadership and there are many suggestions for improvement. The book discusses the ways in which systemic thinking can contribute to enhance leadership, which includes considering different perceptions and experiences of leadership, the influence of power in workplace relationships and organisational outcomes, the link between positive employee engagement for performance and well-being at work, and the importance of interpersonal and relational behaviour on leadership. The book also considers the importance of everyday workplace interactions to our understanding of leadership and supports a wide understanding of workplace conflict. It contains examples throughout, which are applicable to different types and sizes of organisation, and provides suggestions for readers relating to the practice of leadership at all levels. Good leadership is of great importance to today’s organisations. The book suggests that by paying more attention to leadership at all levels, organisations can work towards improving productivity, which has been highlighted as a critical issue in the UK since the 2008 recession. Leading at All Levels will appeal to systemic trainees, practitioners and systemic consultants and to those in related professions, as well as to personal development practitioners and coaches.

This book shows the underlying thinking of experienced consultants deciding how to position themselves in organizations, seeking to enable organizational change to occur and redefining their relationships with their clients over time and according to organizational need using a systemic lens.

This book sets out to explain how the reflexive inquiry model can be adapted to research so that consultants can continue to evaluate their work and learn from the process. It draws out some implications of the principles, arguments, models, and tools presented for undertaking research.