Through conventional ideas, one can develop (good) processes in organisations by defining actions and processing steps which follow one after the other, by providing these with appropriate resources, by instructing employees to adhere to the worked-out procedures, providing them with training for this, by appointing process managers and by introducing compulsory documentations such as a …
Guenther Ortmann published his life’s research far outside the normally trodden paths. Turning common organisation-theoretical issues upside down and inside out is his particular forte. His analyses about questions of complexity, rules and exceptions, strategies and ability to plan, to name just a few, are examples of how sophisticated system theory can be applied by …
Dirk Baecker has earned merit for intensively observing organisations and management from the viewpoint of a systems theorist, and for developing challenging impulses, coupled with advanced reflections about society, from these observations. He was one of the first to identify the heroism in management as having too little complexity- effectiveness (see his booklet about post-theoretical …
Oswald Neuberger was one of the very first to understand management as a two-sided coin: “Leading = leading and allowing yourself to be led”! The relevance of this to the competence of members within an organisation, to not only influence, but also allow yourself to be influenced, and to be able to decide which of …
In the German speaking areas, Fritz Simon is probably the one person who can best present abstract system-theoretical concepts in a comprehensible and practice-relevant way. The multiplicity of his publications, as well as the volume of publications from other authors influenced by him, contribute much to the fact that the consultancy theory, inspired by Luhmann, …
The description of patterns (or typologies and structures) of dynamics has a broad-reaching tradition in the area of psychodynamics. There are ‘compulsive’ or ‘narcissistic’ psychological patterns, there are ‘red, green and blue’ types (insights) or ISTP’s (Myers-Briggs Type Indicators) and many more. In the field of organisational dynamics, though, there are comparatively few. Phases are …
Every type of system can find itself in a position where it has lost ‘sight’ of itself. This is, to a certain extent, the norm for people, teams and organisations. For a long time, it appeared a great advantage of technical systems, a characteristic of which are clear internal causal chains, that they were always …
The term shadow world is chosen carefully. Organisations need light in the sense of official rules, norms, values, programmes, communication paths, and they need shadow in the sense of unofficial rules, norms, values, etc. But why is it like that? None of the guiding processes introduced here can be decided with formal rules, as one …
The theoretical references, which we use in this representation of organisational dynamics, are far reaching, and, at the same time, require a focus. Our starting point is Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory. This meta-theoretical presentation is, therefore, closely linked to his publications and those of his pupils. On the other hand, organisations cannot be understood without …
Organisations can form when one particular future can be selected from different ones: “We heal sick people,” and not “We work on wood” or “We defend the country”. That, which we often and wrongly call the ‘purpose’ of the organisation, is created if, and because, it is possible to choose an (attractive) goal. In the …