Managing complex systems : thinking outside the box / Howard Eisner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eisner, Howard, 1935-

Series:

Wiley series in systems engineering and management

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Systems engineering--Management.

Project management.

Systems engineering.

Physical Description:

xii, 201 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Hoboken, N.J. : John Wiley, [2005]

Summary:

Managing Complex Systems provides specific tools and guidance needed to be a more creative and innovative thinker. Following the author's methodology, the reader will be better able to devise and implement nontraditional solutions to seemingly intractable complex problems. By challenging the reader to think in new and creative ways, the book offers a road map to success, whether measured in terms of competitive advantage, greater market share, improved productivity, or higher profits, all based upon better solutions to difficult problems.

The first four chapters set the foundation for creative thinking by exploring the nature of large-scale systems and complexity, thinking inside and outside the box, and examples of how an inventive mind solves problems in both management and scientific domains. Subsequent chapters address nine focused methods that the author has formulated to help the reader think outside the box: Broaden and generalize, Back of the envelope, Remove constraints, Crossover, Expanding the dimensions, Thinking with pictures, Question conventional wisdom, Obversity, Systems approach.

Real-life examples are provided for each method that demonstrate how the approach enhances problem solving and decision making in system development and management. Following the discussion of the nine methods, the author examines group decision making as well as additional creative thinking procedures devised by other researchers, including references that assist in exploring these methods in greater detail. The author ends with a wrap-up chapter that includes a test to help readers practice their tendencies toward creative thinking skills and action with respect to solving real-world problems.

The nine methods discussed in this book have broad applicability and can be used successfully by managers with a wide range of responsibilities in business and technology. For anyone who is tired of the same old approach with the same old results, this book is essential reading.

Contents:

1 Systems and Thinking 1

1.1 Building and Managing Complex Systems 2

1.2 Some Results of Thinking Outside the Box 3

1.3 Thinking in Relation to Specific Issues 4

2 Building and Managing Systems 13

2.1 Some Basics of Systems Engineering 14

2.2 Some Basics of Project Management 16

2.3 Complex Systems 17

2.4 System of Systems Engineering 21

3 Problems to Ponder 24

3.1 Problem Areas: Systems 25

3.2 Problem Areas: People 27

3.3 Problem Areas: Software 29

3.4 Problem Areas: Management 32

4 The Inventive Mind 36

4.1 Management Thinking 37

4.2 Scientific and Technical Thinking 42

4.3 Not Everyone Is an Einstein (Or Needs To Be) 44

4.4 The Next Nine Chapters 45

5 Perspective 1: Broaden and Generalize 46

5.1 Architecting a Complex System 47

5.2 Using Functional Decomposition to Explore Strategies 49

5.3 System of Systems Engineering 50

5.4 IBM's View of the World 51

5.5 Haloid's Bold Steps 52

5.6 From PERT to GERT to Stochastic Networks 53

5.7 Reinventing Yourself 53

5.8 Summary: A Meeting 54

6 Perspective 2: Crossover 57

6.1 Peoplesoft 58

6.2 Software Reuse 58

6.3 Developer Off-the-Shelf Systems 60

6.4 Accounting Firm Consultation 61

6.5 Building and Managing New Systems 62

6.6 Summary: A Meeting 70

7 Perspective 3: Question Conventional Wisdom 74

7.1 Large and Complex Government Systems 75

7.2 Conventional Wisdom Changes with the Times 78

7.3 More Challengeable Conventional Wisdom 81

7.4 Summary: Two Meetings 82

8 Perspective 4: Back of the Envelope 85

8.1 What Can Fit on the Back of an Envelope? 86

8.2 Some Examples of Back-of-the-Envelope Results 86

8.3 Constructing What's on the Back of the Envelope 92

8.4 What Does It All Mean? 95

8.5 Summary: A Meeting 95

9 Perspective 5: Expanding the Dimensions 98

9.1 Another Look at Architecting 99

9.2 The Morphological Box 100

9.3 Have You Visited Flatland? 101

9.4 Functions of Many Variables 101

9.5 The Movie Camera 102

9.6 A Multifunctional Device 102

9.7 A Multifunctional House 103

9.8 Where Do Elevators Belong? 103

9.9 Where Are Airplanes Supposed to Fly? 104

9.10 The Grand Unified Theory 105

9.11 The Spreadsheet Revisited 106

9.12 Summary: A Meeting 107

9.13 Solution to the Matchstick Problem 108

10 Perspective 6: Obversity 110

10.1 Thirty-Six Ways to Fail 110

10.2 Top Dozen Obversities 112

10.3 Summary: A Meeting 123

11 Perspective 7: Remove Constraints 126

11.1 Typical System Constraints 127

11.2 Internal and External Constraints 135

11.3 Summary: A Meeting 135

12 Perspective 8: Thinking with Pictures 138

12.1 Visual Thinking 139

12.2 Information Flow 139

12.3 A Different Representation of a House 141

12.4 General Process Flowchart 142

12.5 The Parameter Dependency Diagram 143

12.6 Interface Diagram 145

12.7 Other Types of Diagrams 146

12.8 Architectural Views 147

12.9 Summary: A Meeting 150

13 Perspective 9: The Systems Approach 152

13.1 Seven Essential Elements 153

13.2 The Breadth of System Considerations 155

13.3 The Persistence of Alternatives 155

13.4 Building a System 156

13.5 Architecting a System 157

13.6 Additional Views of Architectures 162

13.7 Another Government Perspective 164

13.8 Summary: A Meeting 164

14 Thinking in Groups 167

14.1 The Delphi Process 168

14.2 Groupthink 169

14.3 de Bono and His Thinking Hats 170

14.4 Advocacy vs. Inquiry 171

14.5 SAST 171

14.6 Team Syntegrity 172

14.7 Facilitation 173

14.8 Self-Directed Work Teams 174

14.9 Synectics 175

14.10 No More Teams: Collaboration 176

15 Widening the Circle 179

15.1 de Bono and Lateral Thinking 179

15.2 TRIZ 180

15.3 Thinking Like Leonardo 181

15.4 The Art of Problem Solving 182

15.5 Einstein 183

15.6 Breakthrough Thinking 184

15.7 Creativity 185

15.8 Cogito Ergo Sum 186

15.9 Thinking About the Future 186

15.10 Thinking for a Change 187

15.11 Some Genius Attributes 188

15.12 Systems Thinking 189

16 Final Thoughts and a Test 191

16.1 More Extraordinary Thinkers 192

16.2 Is There Life Outside the Box? 193

16.4 Final Words 196.

Notes:

"Wiley-Interscience."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0471690066

OCLC:

64065628