Interesting write up, and you're using the elephant story to demonstrate a point about complexity.
It would be good to remember that often the parable is used to help people who are on the first rungs of the ladder of moving away from pure reductionism, and the story can help to shift their paradigm.
Also, not all situations are completely complex, even in the public sector. Working in health and social care is perhaps one of the most complex, and there is still instances where complexity and linearity co-exist.
And the view of complexity in operations in health care is obvious; it is high. But standing back and looking at the whole picture, it is certainly possible and important to understand the patterns and trends behind the complexity. And in that situation, the elephant parable can still have an important place.
I suppose I am highlighting the fact that it might be a simplification to talk about complexity as an absolute, when in reality in organisations it is almost always a characteristic. And that characteristic is mixed in with others.
Having said all that, the elephant parable can be very helpful in certain situations, and unhelpful in others. And I presume you are simply highlighting that?
On re-reading the article. I see it differently than my first comment!
Thats interesting. The elephant and the blind people parable was one. that impacted me in my first learning into systems thinking. It is an interesting article, and I would partially agree with its thoughts.
It declares that there is no system, which is a valid statement in some open contexts - particularly social one. Where our perceptions are individual and equally relevant.
However, if we are talking about an organisation, if we are redesigning it, then this can be helpfully seen as a closed system. Then multiple perspectives can promote reductionism, and sub optimal working, This is in fact one of the main causes of silo working.
The parable, I find the ‘wise man’ important. That is encouraging me, not to look at each part. The whole system is not simply the sum of each part. It is the whole, and can only be understood as the whole by standing back and seeing it. If we use this metaphor, then systems thinking encourages us to stand back and ask ourselves how can we, all of us, understand a shared, single purpose, of an organisation?
Interesting write up, and you're using the elephant story to demonstrate a point about complexity.
It would be good to remember that often the parable is used to help people who are on the first rungs of the ladder of moving away from pure reductionism, and the story can help to shift their paradigm.
Also, not all situations are completely complex, even in the public sector. Working in health and social care is perhaps one of the most complex, and there is still instances where complexity and linearity co-exist.
And the view of complexity in operations in health care is obvious; it is high. But standing back and looking at the whole picture, it is certainly possible and important to understand the patterns and trends behind the complexity. And in that situation, the elephant parable can still have an important place.
I suppose I am highlighting the fact that it might be a simplification to talk about complexity as an absolute, when in reality in organisations it is almost always a characteristic. And that characteristic is mixed in with others.
Having said all that, the elephant parable can be very helpful in certain situations, and unhelpful in others. And I presume you are simply highlighting that?
John
On re-reading the article. I see it differently than my first comment!
Thats interesting. The elephant and the blind people parable was one. that impacted me in my first learning into systems thinking. It is an interesting article, and I would partially agree with its thoughts.
It declares that there is no system, which is a valid statement in some open contexts - particularly social one. Where our perceptions are individual and equally relevant.
However, if we are talking about an organisation, if we are redesigning it, then this can be helpfully seen as a closed system. Then multiple perspectives can promote reductionism, and sub optimal working, This is in fact one of the main causes of silo working.
The parable, I find the ‘wise man’ important. That is encouraging me, not to look at each part. The whole system is not simply the sum of each part. It is the whole, and can only be understood as the whole by standing back and seeing it. If we use this metaphor, then systems thinking encourages us to stand back and ask ourselves how can we, all of us, understand a shared, single purpose, of an organisation?
Readers of this great commentary may enjoy another socio-philosophical discussion of the fable, stimulated by Donald Michael's essay "Some observations regarding a missing elephant". https://www.co-intelligence.org/MissingElephantCommentary.html