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"Critical Systems Heuristics," also just called "Critical Heuristics" or "CSH," is a framework for reflective practice based on practical philosophy and systems thinking. The basic idea of CSH is to support boundary critique – a systematic effort of handling boundary judgments critically. Boundary judgments determine which empirical observations and value considerations count as relevant and which others are left out or are considered less important. Because they condition both "facts" and...

Identifying individuals with better outcome than their peers (positive deviance) and enabling communities to adopt the behaviours that explain the improved outcome are powerful methods of producing change

This paper, presented by Anders Hanberger at the Sixth EES (European Evaluation Society) Conference in Berlin, Germany (September 30-October 2, 2004) argues that governance, democracy and evaluation impact each in different ways. It offers a discussion centred around the evaluation of three general democratic governance models and the implications of leading democratic evaluations. "Since governance and democracy are changing phenomena, and evaluation is embedded in these structures, there...

In this highly insightful analysis of Western and Chinese concepts of efficacy, Francois Jullien subtly delves into the metaphysical preconceptions of the two civilizations to account for diverging patterns of action in warfare, politics, and diplomacy. He shows how Western and Chinese stategies work in several domains (the battle-field, for example) and analyzes two resulting acts of war. The Chinese strategist manipulates his own troops and the enemy to win a battle without waging war and...

Complexity science has seriously challenged long-held views in the scientific community about how the world works. These ideas, particularly about the living world, also have radical and profound implications for organizations and society as a whole. Available in paperback for the first time, this insightful book describes and considers ideas from complexity science and examines their use in organizations, especially in bringing about major organizational change. Author McMillan...

In this concise, illustrated work exploring the dynamics of living in the 21st century, Phil Lawson and Robert L. Lindstrom show us how we individually and collectively shape the future - a future no longer dominated by traditional hierarchies and concentrated power centers. The authors explain why, in this dawning era of interconnection and interdependency, we require a dramatic transformation in the way we see, think and act. Using mythological imagery in the form of The Sphere and an...

How to speed up business processes, improve quality, and cut costs in any industryIn factories around the world, Toyota consistently makes the highest-quality cars with the fewest defects of any competing manufacturer, while using fewer man-hours, less on-hand inventory, and half the floor space of its competitors. The Toyota Way is the first book for a general audience that explains the management principles and business philosophy behind Toyota's worldwide reputation for quality and...

The current model of public policy-making is no longer right for a government that has set itself the challenge of delivery. Improvements are driven by central policy initiatives which assume a direct relationship between action and outcome - but this is a false assumption. Public services are complex adaptive systems which are subject to the law of unintended consequences, so intervention can make problems worse. That is why the carrot-and-stick approach to reform which links increased...

Spherit is a whole view technology system that streamlines meaning making, solutioning, and action taking in business, healthcare, relationships, and life in general, by displaying complex situation-specific topics in context on a customizable conversation map. When the Spherit system is activated it generates and displays a snapshot of any complex situation in a way that makes it digestible, while engaging our intellect and our intuition in the reflecting and meaning-making process. It's...

In the beginning, there were methods. For many of us in the circle of enthusiasts of participatory approaches in the early 1990s, maps and models, calendars and Venn diagrams, matrices and rankings and the interactions and insights they produced defined what we did and what we had in common. It was this, too, that made participatory rural appraisal (PRA) – and rapid rural appraisal (RRA) before it – something that was very different from anything we’d known before. PRA bridged barriers that...

This Practice Note by Imp-Act gives a step-by-step guide to developing and conducting in-depth interviews using the QUIP approach, and analysing the information and making conclusions based on what you have learned.

Dao De Jing is one of the richest, most suggestive, and most popular works of philosophy and literature. Composed in China between the late sixth and the late fourth centuries b.c., its enigmatic verses have inspired artists, philosophers, poets, religious thinkers, and general readers down to our own times. This new translation, both revelatory and authentic, captures much of the beauty and nuance of the original work. In an extensive and accessible commentary to his translation, Moss...

Contents: Introduction 1. The nature of programmes and how they work 2. Basic concepts in the explanation and understanding of programmes 3. Strategies and methods of realist evaluation 4. Realism’s place in the policy cycle: formative, summative and synthetic approaches 5. The nature, presentation and use of findings from realist evaluation 6. Conclusion: strengths, limitations and relationships with other approaches Appendix I – ‘Thinking it through’: an exercise in realist hypothesis...

This book provides a set of guidelines for people who will be involved in participatory processes and projects with specific design focus on VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) volunteers. It looks at appropriate levels of participation; pitfalls of participatory approaches (PA); best practice in facilitation; and tools for participation. The guide is organised into three parts (I) Principles, (II) Methods and (III) Toolkit. Part I gives a background to PA with a comparative analysis of PA in...

This article critically reviews the role of participatory theory in managing development projects and programmes in poor countries. Participation has emerged in response to global demands for greater individual and social control over the activities of state and private agencies, and especially to the manifest failures of traditional ‘top-down’ management systems in LDCs. Claims made on behalf of these participatory methodologies are critically reviewed and a distinction is drawn between...