1st Edition
The Wiggly World of Organization Muddling Through with Purpose, Courage and Skill
Foreword By Dominic Mahony – Executive Chairman Of Lane4 Management Group
Preface: Waking People Up
1. The Wiggly World Of Organization: Taking Experience Seriously
2. Understanding The Wiggliness: The Complex Social Dynamics Of Organization
3. Management In Five Acts: Scientific Research And The Complex Social Reality Of Organization
4. Mastery, Mystery And Muddling Through: Getting To Grips With The Real-World Wiggliness
5. The Suffocating Grip Of Management Orthodoxy: Exposing The Generally Accepted ‘Truths’ That Inhibit Progress
6. Leading And Managing In A Wiggly World: Muddling Through With Purpose, Courage And Skill
7. Implications For Organizational Consulting: Influencing People’s Perspectives, Practices And Performance
8. Shifting The Patterns: A Manifesto For Muddling Through
Postscript: Perpetually Creating The Future Together
Biography
Chris Rodgers is an independent consultant, speaker and writer on leadership, change and organizational dynamics. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and was previously a senior manager in the UK power industry. His first book, Informal Coalitions, was published in 2006.
"Chris Rodgers’s timely book on the enduring complexity of organisational life is a much-needed antidote to the still-dominant prescriptions for how to lead and manage. It mobilises his substantial experience as an organisational consultant and his assiduous reading and systematic thinking, to present difficult ideas in a highly accessible way. I recommend this book to anyone interested in engaging more thoughtfully in every day organisational reality."
Chris Mowles, Professor of Complexity and Management, Hertfordshire Business School"This is a genuinely refreshing and exciting book. It offers a clear and persuasive challenge to the prevailing taken-for-granted assumptions and conventional wisdom about how organizations work. It presents thought-provoking insights and practical advice on how to purposely and skilfully ‘muddle through’. This is a ‘must-read’ book for anyone who wants to truly understand organizing processes and meaningfully act within organizations."
Professor Cliff Oswick, Chair in Organization Theory, The Business School (formerly Cass)"This offers a wide-ranging yet easy-to-read guide to the complex social dynamics of organisation and what these mean for day-to-day practice of managers and other practitioners. Despite challenging management orthodoxy head-on, Chris seems to have a knack of talking about complexity without talking about complexity!"
Dr Sharon Varney, Director, space for learning ltd.
