Abstract:The Nataraja is perhaps the most well-recognized anthropomorphic form of the Hindu god, Shiva. This paper articulates a set of principles for a recently developed conceptual lens in systems thinking called Holistic Flexibility for flexible and responsible management practice.
The five most important function of the Nataraja, or the panchakritya, have been drawn on to articulate these principles; these principles are – "system as becoming", drawing from srishti or creation, "transformative flexibility", drawin… Show more
“…He further draws from Heron and Reason (1997) to argue that Western management traditions are limited as it focuses mainly on propositional knowledge and practical knowledge largely ignoring experiential knowledge and presentational knowledge. Similarly, Chowdhury (2022b) highlights the lack of an integrative approach in the Western tradition of ST. Picking up a different thread, Midgley (1996) says that CST is based on Habermas' Knowledge Constitute Interest (KCI), which is itself like a metaparadigm.…”
Section: A Critique Of St In Or/msmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Several works also argue that ST must be rooted in human consciousness as the ability to have an integrated view of the world is deeply rooted in one's understanding and realization of the position of one's own self in the wider scheme of existence (Chowdhury 2022b;Pushkar and Potrashkova 2008). In a similar vein, Henning et al (2012) consider ST as an ethical imperative "as all of us live within systems, rely upon them, and interact with them for our survival and pleasure, any decision or action we take for our own good will impact others -for others, too, share the systems in which we live, on which we rely, with which we interact" (p. 9).…”
Section: St As a Cognitive Skillmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…worlds. Drawing inspiration from Eastern mysticism, Chowdhury (2022b) argues that the understanding of consciousness can lead systems practitioners make decisions with mental clarity and responsible goals. A conscious awareness can go a long way in helping systems managers drop their ego, display emotional balance, and work in unison with the universal forces of existence.…”
Section: St As a Cognitive Skillmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The above building blocks were crystallized and articulated as principles of Holistic Flexibility in the author's most recent research on the subject (Chowdhury 2022b). It is important to note that Holistic Flexibility does not mean that a practitioner has to abandon systems methodologies.…”
Considering Systems Thinking (ST) as a cognitive skill can create greater acceptability of and openness to the discipline from practitioners and researchers outside operations research and management science. Rather than associating ST with frameworks and methodologies, ST as a cognitive skill can help popularize and democratize the discipline. This paper highlights how the conceptual lens of Holistic Flexibility can help practitioners deploy ST as a cognitive skill without the application of any traditional systems methodology. Holistic Flexibility is defined as the dynamic interplay between a state of mind that has the ability to absorb systemic complexity and a state of practice that has the ability to embrace flexibility, both in intent and in form. Through two case-studies, discussions in this paper highlight how Holistic Flexibility can serve as a conceptual lens for systems practitioners. The case-studies demonstrate the importance of a practitioner’s ability to seamlessly manage and work with multiple variables, stakeholders, and factors to deliver responsible outcomes with the aid of learning loops. The main contribution of this paper lies in the case-studies and analyses presented that provide use cases for Holistic Flexibility in ST, which will help address recent calls in the discipline for ST to be considered as a cognitive skill.
“…He further draws from Heron and Reason (1997) to argue that Western management traditions are limited as it focuses mainly on propositional knowledge and practical knowledge largely ignoring experiential knowledge and presentational knowledge. Similarly, Chowdhury (2022b) highlights the lack of an integrative approach in the Western tradition of ST. Picking up a different thread, Midgley (1996) says that CST is based on Habermas' Knowledge Constitute Interest (KCI), which is itself like a metaparadigm.…”
Section: A Critique Of St In Or/msmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Several works also argue that ST must be rooted in human consciousness as the ability to have an integrated view of the world is deeply rooted in one's understanding and realization of the position of one's own self in the wider scheme of existence (Chowdhury 2022b;Pushkar and Potrashkova 2008). In a similar vein, Henning et al (2012) consider ST as an ethical imperative "as all of us live within systems, rely upon them, and interact with them for our survival and pleasure, any decision or action we take for our own good will impact others -for others, too, share the systems in which we live, on which we rely, with which we interact" (p. 9).…”
Section: St As a Cognitive Skillmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…worlds. Drawing inspiration from Eastern mysticism, Chowdhury (2022b) argues that the understanding of consciousness can lead systems practitioners make decisions with mental clarity and responsible goals. A conscious awareness can go a long way in helping systems managers drop their ego, display emotional balance, and work in unison with the universal forces of existence.…”
Section: St As a Cognitive Skillmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The above building blocks were crystallized and articulated as principles of Holistic Flexibility in the author's most recent research on the subject (Chowdhury 2022b). It is important to note that Holistic Flexibility does not mean that a practitioner has to abandon systems methodologies.…”
Considering Systems Thinking (ST) as a cognitive skill can create greater acceptability of and openness to the discipline from practitioners and researchers outside operations research and management science. Rather than associating ST with frameworks and methodologies, ST as a cognitive skill can help popularize and democratize the discipline. This paper highlights how the conceptual lens of Holistic Flexibility can help practitioners deploy ST as a cognitive skill without the application of any traditional systems methodology. Holistic Flexibility is defined as the dynamic interplay between a state of mind that has the ability to absorb systemic complexity and a state of practice that has the ability to embrace flexibility, both in intent and in form. Through two case-studies, discussions in this paper highlight how Holistic Flexibility can serve as a conceptual lens for systems practitioners. The case-studies demonstrate the importance of a practitioner’s ability to seamlessly manage and work with multiple variables, stakeholders, and factors to deliver responsible outcomes with the aid of learning loops. The main contribution of this paper lies in the case-studies and analyses presented that provide use cases for Holistic Flexibility in ST, which will help address recent calls in the discipline for ST to be considered as a cognitive skill.
“…(Dewey, quoted in Menand, 2002, p. 320)Chowdhury's ongoing work on ‘holistic flexibility’ is also relevant here. In a recent paper, Chowdhury (2022) suggests that CST needs to become a ‘state of mind’ and, drawing upon the Hindu symbol of the Nataraja , offers 5 principles and 10 behaviours which can guide managers to change their consciousness in this direction.…”
Section: Difficulties In Conducting Multimethodological Interventionsmentioning
This is the third of a series of papers on the stages of critical systems practice. Critical systems practice is a multimethodology that seeks to employ the ideas of critical systems thinking to intervene in and improve complex real-world problem situations. It has four stages-Explore (the problem situation), Produce (an intervention strategy), Intervene (flexibly) and Check (on progress)-called to mind as EPIC. The aim is to set out where thinking has reached on the best way to carry out each of these stages and to invite comment on what more needs doing. This paper discusses the third stage, Intervene. It is concerned with executing a flexible multimethodological intervention in accordance with the agreement reached by decision makers, and other stakeholders, at the end of the previous stage. The theoretical and practical problems associated with multimethodological interventions are discussed, and solutions and ways forward are suggested based on the philosophy of pragmatism.
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