QUERY Factors related to success of SD

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Jack Harich <jack@thwink.org&
Junior Member
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 3:39 am

QUERY Factors related to success of SD

Post by Jack Harich <jack@thwink.org& »

Posted by Jack Harich <jack@thwink.org>


Jim Thompson wrote on Feb 11, 2007:

""My thesis research reviews several
consulting engagements in which SD was the prominent problem-solving
methodology. However, the causes and solutions suggested by SD did not
make immediate sense to the persons charged with solving the problem.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. In some
engagements this observation was respected by making ever more detailed
SD models, for the most part producing disappointment and
disillusionment with the methodology. In those engagements in which the
SD-generated insight was supported by other analytics, organizational
satisfaction with results and the likelihood of implementing an
SD-generated solution was much higher.""

This appears to be a rich source of the factors affecting the
success/failure of SD, as applied to practical, pressing problems. Is
this or related research available? How current and relevant is it?

This sort of thing may be particularly pertinent as the list moves into
a long, serious effort on how to develop ""a vision and strategy for the
next 50 years,"" as Jim Lyneis mentions in his recent message to SD
Society members.

Jack Harich
Posted by Jack Harich <jack@thwink.org>
posting date Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:55:27 -0400
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""Jim Thompson"" <james.thomp
Member
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 3:39 am

QUERY Factors related to success of SD

Post by ""Jim Thompson"" <james.thomp »

Posted by ""Jim Thompson"" <james.thompson@strath.ac.uk>

Jack Harich wrote:
> Is this or related research available? How current and relevant
>is it?

I spent a large chunk of the past seven years trying to
understand how and under what conditions clients (as individuals,
not groups) learn in SD consulting engagements. In the course of
that research, I found quite a bit about *what* clients learned,
too, but the focus was on *how* they learned to solve the
engagement problems.

If I can get my act together, the thesis will be available this
summer... maybe June/July... from University of Strathclyde
School of Business, Management Science Department.

The engagements I researched (by interviewing U.S. and Canadian
consultants and clients) were pretty good-sized (spanning 3
months to 3 years in duration), and so the results represent what
many consultants encounter in day to day work. However, it's
just a start; e.g. there are plenty of cases in different
cultural settings that should be explored.

Jim Lyneis has asked me to support the vision and strategy work
and, if the strategy team asks, I will.
JT
Posted by ""Jim Thompson"" <james.thompson@strath.ac.uk>
posting date Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:24:23 -0400
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