In my review of
The Systems Thinking Approach to Strategic Planning and Management
by Stephen Haines posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Three Stars. This means it is Worthwhile.
Here is my review.
Disappointing
I bought this book several years ago because I am fascinated by systems thinking that I first found in Peter Senge’s book “The Fifth Discipline“. I’ve had several goes at reading it and each time up to now, I’ve put it down because I’m bored. This is strange because I read a lot of books about strategic planning.
The style of writing is very dry and the author was keen to get some of his own terminology into use. This is something that frustrates me with strategy because everyone is keen to differentiate their own approach rather than building on accepted practice.
My biggest disappointed is that it seems to be a fairly standard approach to strategy dressed up with the very occasional reference to feedback. I expected much more about how the difference systems from single people all the way through to the wider environment interact and either reinforce or compensate for each other in the chain of cause and effect relationships.
I can’t recommend it but at the same time, the book isn’t terrible. It has useful ideas and frameworks which can be found with some diligence. It’s too much like hard work for anyone new to strategy and it doesn’t add enough of a new approach for someone who is well-schooled in the main strategy techniques and models.
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