This paper attempts to set a dialogue between Complex Responsive Processes of Stacey et al. (2000) and Systems Thinking. In this endeavor, we propose Systems Intelligence (Saarinen and Hämäläinen, 2004) as an integrating perspective on the two seemingly distinct approaches. Systems Thinking builds upon the premise that in coping with complexity, the concept of the whole is of primary importance...

This chapter will briefly introduce the principles of General Systems Thinking (GST) as defined by classic literature on the subject (Ackoff, 1971; Battista, 1977; Bertalanffy, 1968; Boulding, 1956; Churchman, 1968; Waelchi, 1992; Weinburg, 1975). In particular, this chapter will contrast two opposing operational research (OR) views about systems thinking; the ‘reductionistic’ (‘hard’) approach...