That is because they are intrinsically systems problems—undesirable behaviors characteristic of the system structures that produce them.

Managers are not confronted with problems that are independent of each other, but with dynamic situations that consist of complex systems of changing problems that interact with each other. I call such situations messes. . . . Managers do not solve problems, they manage messes. — Russell Ackoff , 1 operations theorist

So, what is a system? A system is a set of things—people, cells, molecules, or whatever—interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern of behavior over time. The system may be buffeted, constricted, triggered, or driven by outside forces. But the system’s response to these forces is characteristic of itself, and that response is... See more

On the one hand, we have been taught to analyze, to use our rational ability, to trace direct paths from cause to effect, to look at things in small and understandable pieces, to solve problems by acting on or controlling the world around us. That training, the source of much personal and soci-etal power, leads us to see presidents and competitors,... See more

Ever since the Industrial Revolution, Western society has benefited from science, logic, and reductionism over intuition and holism.