Russell Ackoff, Fred Emery
5.0 out of 5 stars A masterful guide to designing a better world, December 25, 2002
ByW. C. Priest “Dr. W. Curtiss Priest” (Boston, MA United States) – See all my reviews
In 1970 I taught from this book when it was entitled
“Choice, Communication and Conflict”
What makes this book “magical” is Ackoff (from his
management and behavioral science roots) provides
“operational definitions” for many ill-defined words
and concepts — from defining ‘knowledge' & ‘understanding' to providing definitions of feelings/emotions that — operationally — you know — that if certain events take place in a person's life, that you know the feeling they have.
This is only a glimmer of what this book is about. In terms of Kuhn's idea of “paradigm shifts” — this book
represents a shift that has yet to be appreciated, thirty years later!
