SCT? in Action: Applying the Systems-Centered Approach in Organizations - Softcover

Gantt, Susan P

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0595346774 ISBN 13: 9780595346776

Publisher: iUniverse, 2005

Synopsis

The systems-centered approach to organizations brings an innovative technology that makes it possible for organizations and work groups to lower the personalizing that is so troublesome for the people in organizations. Instead, learning to think "systems" shifts towards being able to see oneself in one's role and context.

This book illustrates actual examples of the basic systems-centered methods being applied in organizational work groups, in coaching, and in school and educational settings. The systems-centered approach introduces both a new perspective and an inventive technology: Functional subgrouping is used to resolve conflicts and strengthen decision-making. The systems-centered framework of "role, goal and context" enhances teamwork and lowers personalizing. Deliberately filtering noisy "talk" increases the potential for communication to work. The paradigm of phases of system development in organizations links each phase to specific change strategies.

This collection of articles brings together a range of examples that illustrate these human technologies and apply systems-centered theory and methods to various organizational contexts: companies, non-profit organizations and educational systems. This book is essential reading for consultants, managers, teachers, administrators and any change agents interested in learning to influence the system and not just the people.

About this title

About the Author

Susan P. Gantt, Ph.D., CGP, ABPP, is the Director of the Systems-Centered Training and Research Institute, a psychologist in private practice in Atlanta, and a faculty member in the Emory University School of Medicine. She consults and trains in the US and Europe, and has co-authored the book Autobiography of a Theory with Yvonne Agazarian, as well as published journal articles on SCT.

Yvonne Agazarian, Ed.D., FAGPA, CGP, is the developer of a theory of living human systems and its systems-centered practice and is the founder of the Systems-Centered Training and Research Institute. She authored the book Systems-Centered Therapy for Groups and four other books on systems-centered applications and group dynamics, as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters. She received the Group Psychologist of the year award from the American Psychological Association in 1997. She lives in Philadelphia and teaches and consults both in the US and internationally.

Review

'As this book amply demonstrates, SCT has turned out to have powerful organizational applications. With its theory of living human systems rather than a separate theory of organizations or of organizational behavior, it uses concepts that easily map onto organizational life. It looks at systems as a whole but also in parts. It stresses the importance of understanding boundaries and contexts. It continually focuses on task, and, perhaps, most important of all, it offers a sophisticated understanding of roles, which includes work roles in organizations. It well may be, as more consultants working in organizations become more familiar with the concepts and methods SCT offers, the SCT approach will come to seem indispensable to the resolution of conflict.'- From the Foreword by Ken Eisold, Ph.D., Former President of the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations'Yvonne Agazarian has long been established as one of the major theoreticians within group and organizational psychology. In this book, she and Susan Gantt have gathered together enriching and stimulating papers within the SCT tradition with the aim of showing us how it works in practice. They have certainly succeeded. SCT is about creating a new culture in which both people and the aims of the organization are strengthened and supported. For those working with organizations, either as leaders or consultants, this book will prove to be a stimulating and reliable companion.'- Christer Sandahl, Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics (LIME), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm

Edition details

• Publisher: iUniverse
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0595346774
• ISBN 13: 9780595346776
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192