Idealized Design: Creating an Organization’s Future

Foreword

Russell L. Ackoff, no doubt one of the greatest management innovators of our time, has been one of the most important influences in my understanding of management theory and practice, even though I discovered him late in my professional career. His application of systems thinking and his penetrating insights into human and organizational behavior have enriched my thinking about how to radically improve management processes and business results. None of his many contributions to management thinking is more important than the subject of this book, idealized design and interactive planning.

Idealized design has its greatest benefit when an organization or a part thereof finds itself at a crossroad, where incremental improvement of past business ...