Barry Oshry explains the problem with organizational structures in this dialogue between two consultants about a change initiative. A guide to Systems Thinking for Organizations, it's as engaging and helpful as any business book you've ever read. Give it to team leaders, trainers, HR, managers and chief execs and transform your organization.
Seeing Systems is the most accessible, penetrating book available on the dynamics of systems. In it, Barry Oshry explains why so many efforts at creating more satisfying and productive systems end in disappointment, and proposes an entirely new framework for dealing with human behavior. Oshry shows us how teams of top executives regularly fall into turf battles with one another; why organizational improvement efforts inevitably create tensions between the ""good"" cooperative workers and the ""bad"" resistant ones; how marriages seemingly ""made in heaven"" disintegrate. Oshry demonstrates how these breakdowns in organizations result from our blindness to the human systems of which we are a part. Finally, he shows how powerful, productive, and satisfying partnerships are created when we are able to recognize and stop these destructive ""dances,"" and create new ones in which we understand and are respectful of one another and can work in productive partnership. Seeing Systems takes us to a whole new level of understanding ourselves as human beings.
An updated edition of Oshry's pioneering work on Middles. Oshry illuminates life in "middle" positions in organizations -- positions in which supervisors, middle managers, coaches, deans, department heads and others must function between the often conflicting perspectives and demands of those above and below them. IN THE MIDDLE clarifies the stresses of middle positions, the disempowering pitfalls to be avoided, the strategies for empowerment, and the unique contributions empowered middles can make to the organization.
Barry Oshry shows that, despite many references to paradigms in the literature, there are no scientific paradigms (as defined by Thomas Kuhn) in management/organization theory and development. He then makes the case for the Organic System Framework as a legitimate candidate for paradigm status - from which further research naturally follows.
How We Continue to Misunderstand, Dehumanize, Scorn, Humiliate, Oppress--And Even Kill Other Humans. and How We Can Stop.
Drawing on a wealth of experience in social and organizational systems, Barry Oshry explores the dynamics that shape interactions within these structures. His insights reveal how different roles and power dynamics influence behavior and outcomes in organizations. Through practical examples and frameworks, Oshry offers readers tools to understand and improve their organizational environments, fostering better communication and collaboration among individuals at all levels.