Strengths-
- promotes systems thinking and systematic assessment
of the functions of an organization. Often brings new insight.
Weaknesses-
- this model is not easily understood in a short
period of time
- what is meant by an "input transducer"
(one of the named functions) anyway?
- it's hard for people to pick up on this quickly.
Specifications for success-
- use this as one of several ways of challenging
participants to think of their organization in new ways (i.e.,
parallel process this with different assignments that serve the
same purpose).
- I
recommend preparing a good handout for participants to use: giving
some explanation of the terms (not just the list of terms, as
in the model). Perhaps Miller's book has this.
Special materials required-
- if possible a copy of Living Systems (the book),
in addition to copies of Living Systems (the model).
