Open systems planning: Its theory and practice

This article interrelates a set of concepts applicable to understanding and improving the functioning of all living systems–from the individual, to the group, to the organization, and beyond. Its central focus is upon the organization, however One of the most important and yet least understood strategies for improving individual and organizational effectiveness that has been developed during the last ten years is open systems planning. While the underlying notions of open systems planning have their roots in much ancient wisdom, there are, nevertheless, three people who deserve much credit for putting these notions together in a meaningful manner: Will Mc‐Whinney, James V. Clark, and Charles Krone. The purpose of this article is to draw together a number of the most important ideas pertaining to this strategy of change in the hope that more people will appreciate its value and seek to use it The article concludes by showing how the practice of open systems planning compares and contrasts with two other popular approaches to organizational change–the conventional sociotechnical systems approach and the contingency approach–along nine separate dimensions.