Strategic Thinking and the New Science: Planning in the Midst of Chaos Complexity and Change Review

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Strategic Thinking and the New Science: Planning in the Midst of Chaos Complexity and Change ReviewMany years ago, in the late 80's, I read James Gleick's Chaos: Making a New Science book. I was not enlightened very much. A couple of years ago, I read Margaret Wheatley's Leadership & The New Science, and also A Simpler Way. I got a much better picture of the subject, and I began to take an earnest interest in the New Science. I read a few other authors' books but they did not strike a common chord with me, although they fueled my pursuit. I stumbled on to Irene Sanders' book by chance because of its cover title.
I was intrigued when I scanned the book index and found many interesting stuff: insight, foresight, geographic intelligence, Futurescape vs. Mindmap, imagery, new planning paradigm, new science, perking information, scenario building, thinking in pictures, visual models, whole-brain functioning, etc. All my kind of stuff.
I have read the book many times because of my deep personal interest in Strategic Thinking, and I have not been disappointed.
I love the author's break down of the Strategic Thinking process into two components:
- insight about the present; - foresight about the future;
and her argument that visual thinking stimulates both processes. She also defines and makes very clear distinctions between the terms `insight' and `foresight' as well as `forecast.' She then moves on to introduce her seven principles of Strategic Thinking in the context of the New Science, and elaborates at length her ten-step Futurescape mapping process. To me, her Futurescaping is an extremely innovative expansion of the Mindscaping process created by Nancy Margulies in her book, Mapping Innerspace, which I had reviewed earlier.
She goes on further to differentiate her Futurescape from the traditional mind-mapping process, developed by Tony Buzan. I thought that was great, as I have always felt that mind-mapping is only good for organising personal notes and dumping quick ideas on to paper. I love to play with the Futurescape mapping process, in the light of its ability to present the big visual picture, showing the dynamic interactions and inter-relationships of abstract concepts as well as complex issues.
With hindsight from my own consulting work, I am firmly convinced that Futurescaping can be a very powerful tool for strategic visioning by companies/organisations, as part of their annual business planning exercise. It will allow "left-brain thinkers" to work harmoniously with "right-brain thinkers" to form a whole-brain approach for designing the preferred company future.
Frankly, just learning - and mastering - the Futurescaping process in your life and/or business will be worth more than the money you are going to spend on this book!
The book is divided into two equal parts: with Part 1: Understanding the New Science, and Part 2: The Art & Science of Visual Thinking. In the first part, she outlines and explains many of the New Science terms very well. For once, "butterflies and hurricanes" make some real sense to me. The second part is essentially the application part of the author's visual models. As the author puts it, it is also the framework for the new planning paradigm, as defined by the New Science.
While reading this book, it reminds me of another good book, The Next Common Sense, by Michael Lissack. There seems to be a common thread among the two books. Both authors argue and support very strongly the visual thinking metaphors as powerful tools for comprehending complexity. I strongly recommend readers to get hold of the book.
Again, this is another good book that you just can't read it in one go and put it on your shelf. You have to peruse it, think about it, reflect, and then make use of the Futurescape mapping process. To paraphrase the author, `The present is the future in its most creative state.' Futurescaping will allow you to put your creativity to work. On the whole, the author's writing style is very easy-going.Strategic Thinking and the New Science: Planning in the Midst of Chaos Complexity and Change Overview

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