This paper presents the case study of a management information system which is seen in some parts of the organisation it serves, as problematic. This was the typical trigger for a soft systems approach intervention. The research for the case study provided an important methodological insight, which is equally relevant to other systems thinking; the perceived need to find a novel communication method to overcome management resistance. A major cause of conflict, had been the attempted use f data flow diagrams as a communications device with senior management. The blow to managerial pride this techno-speak presentation has caused, left deep and enduring scars which might best be thought of as negative appreciative settings (after Vickers). Such is the antipathy that in some minds, the system had almost become the 'scapegoat' for any problems in this part of the organisation. Yet there was a very clear organisational need for the system to be used satisfactorily. During the intervention a rich picture, in the style of a data flow diagram, was constructed once more as a communications devices, for use with technical specialists. This had limited success, even to those familiar with complex diagramming techniques, unfamiliar symbols and conventions were seen as problematic. This can be equally true where influence diagrams and ‘ithink’ type diagrams are to be used. This reinforced the view that often the real value of rich pictures lies in the process of their production, rather than the end product. Yet the question of how to communicate and share perceptions with both sides still remained. Ideas from Morgan’s ‘Indigenization’ led to perceptions of the situation resembling a mythical kingdom and the idea of a fairy story as an alternative rich picture, or a ‘management toy’ (after De Geus), perhaps from this, a novel means of communication is possible. The story does not have an ending – happy or otherwise, that will be added by the participants in the experiment. If it causes some learning in those involved in the situation, it will have been a success. Children use fairy stories to learn about the world – why should managers not use them to help make the transition into successful systems thinking about the world?

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Date created

• 1995

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• Document

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• Processing documentation available at: https://wiki.albany.edu/display/SCA/Processing+Ingested+Digital+Files

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• Creative Commons BY-NC-ND Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International

  
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12420ec6bd5f758d2b4dea59aabd75a9

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23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8

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b83f2ce2912343b559f967dd985da515

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Collection

System Dynamic Society Records

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• This collection is part of the University Archives