Systems thinking and thinking systems

Abstract Three types of system are identified and differentiated: mechanical, organismic, and social systems. The evolution of our concept of an enterprise from mechanical to social is then traced, as enterprises are viewed from each of these perspectives. Some consequences of conceptualizing them as social systems are then discussed, including the consequences of (1) considering the parts of an enterprise separately, as is commonly done, that is, managing analytically versus synthetically; (2) supervising personnel who can do their jobs better than their bosses; (3) treating problems separately rather than systemically, and (4) taking disciplines as aspects of reality, that is, as categories of nature.