Review of A Systems Thinking Decision Making Process
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Lina Mondoma
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Review of A Systems Thinking Decision Making Process
[Following is a volunteer review of "A Systems Thinking Decision Making Process" by Vincent P Barabba.]
A Systems Thinking Decision-Making Process: How to Avoid Burnt Toast by Vincent P. Barabba. The author developed a decision-making process while serving as Director of the United States Census Bureau, and trying to incorporate what he had learned during his time at three major corporations: Xerox, Eastman Kodak and General Motors. He wrote this book giving an emphasis on how his many years of experience led to the development of a decision-making process that produced innovative results. This process allowed the decision makers and researchers to work together to collect and use relevant information. It also allowed them to learn from their decisions even after they had been made.
I picked up this book with a certain amount of curiosity and interest in learning about the making of policies at any business level regardless of the business size. I had several questions before reading this book. What kind of policies does a business need? How how can they be made? Lastly, if they are made, how would one know that these policies are actually good? Out of all the questions I had, almost all were answered. The first one regarding the making of policies, was answered in the form of the efficient decision-making process that the author discussed in his book. The second question that was answered related to getting feedback about the effects that a policy has on the company so as to know if it works. The author addresed this by discussing the inquiry centers and decision records
The book has a lot of technical content and practical instructions on how to make decisions based on the models that he used during his personal experience. Though unlikely, it can be a bit confusing, too technical or difficult to understand especially if you blitz though the content. However, if you read it as though it were a textbook and just take your time, it will all make sense. For instance, I realised that most of the questions I had at the beginning of the book were answered when I learned some of the concepts such as the cross-functional decision-making process; decision feedback; decision records; and inquiry centers.
The book was not difficult to read because the writer used a very comprehensive style of writing. Furthermore, the way instructional content was structured was in point form. This made it easier to apply in real life. Lastly, as mentioned before, he used his past experience to show a practical example of how the model was used in real life. For that reason, it was easier to understand and it also gave a sense of assurance that the model has actually worked before.
The book was satisfactory in all relevant aspects and there's nothing that I can complain about. There is no explicit content in this book. Therefore, it can be read by anyone who is able to understand what is written in it. If I were to narrow it down to a specific audience, I would suggest that business managers interested in improving or refreshing their understanding of decision-making processes read this. Additionaly, small business owners can read this to improve the policies, products, services or just the decision making process of their company.
I have listed my favourite quote from the book. ''The future we all face will be more complicated and will change so fast that determining future solutions based on how we currently attempt to determine societal preferences can lead to missing promising opportunities''. This basically sums up why I read the book. It was also good to know that the author had the same idea about the problem as I did. It feels like he wrote the book for his younger self to learn these things.
There are 4 major aspects that matter to me when reading a nonfiction book. These include: comprehensibility; relevance; directness; and grammar. This book satisfied all these aspects. Addedly, the book was not only professionally written, but also exceptionally well edited. For that reason, I am going to give it an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars.
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A Systems Thinking Decision Making Process
View: on Bookshelves
A Systems Thinking Decision-Making Process: How to Avoid Burnt Toast by Vincent P. Barabba. The author developed a decision-making process while serving as Director of the United States Census Bureau, and trying to incorporate what he had learned during his time at three major corporations: Xerox, Eastman Kodak and General Motors. He wrote this book giving an emphasis on how his many years of experience led to the development of a decision-making process that produced innovative results. This process allowed the decision makers and researchers to work together to collect and use relevant information. It also allowed them to learn from their decisions even after they had been made.
I picked up this book with a certain amount of curiosity and interest in learning about the making of policies at any business level regardless of the business size. I had several questions before reading this book. What kind of policies does a business need? How how can they be made? Lastly, if they are made, how would one know that these policies are actually good? Out of all the questions I had, almost all were answered. The first one regarding the making of policies, was answered in the form of the efficient decision-making process that the author discussed in his book. The second question that was answered related to getting feedback about the effects that a policy has on the company so as to know if it works. The author addresed this by discussing the inquiry centers and decision records
The book has a lot of technical content and practical instructions on how to make decisions based on the models that he used during his personal experience. Though unlikely, it can be a bit confusing, too technical or difficult to understand especially if you blitz though the content. However, if you read it as though it were a textbook and just take your time, it will all make sense. For instance, I realised that most of the questions I had at the beginning of the book were answered when I learned some of the concepts such as the cross-functional decision-making process; decision feedback; decision records; and inquiry centers.
The book was not difficult to read because the writer used a very comprehensive style of writing. Furthermore, the way instructional content was structured was in point form. This made it easier to apply in real life. Lastly, as mentioned before, he used his past experience to show a practical example of how the model was used in real life. For that reason, it was easier to understand and it also gave a sense of assurance that the model has actually worked before.
The book was satisfactory in all relevant aspects and there's nothing that I can complain about. There is no explicit content in this book. Therefore, it can be read by anyone who is able to understand what is written in it. If I were to narrow it down to a specific audience, I would suggest that business managers interested in improving or refreshing their understanding of decision-making processes read this. Additionaly, small business owners can read this to improve the policies, products, services or just the decision making process of their company.
I have listed my favourite quote from the book. ''The future we all face will be more complicated and will change so fast that determining future solutions based on how we currently attempt to determine societal preferences can lead to missing promising opportunities''. This basically sums up why I read the book. It was also good to know that the author had the same idea about the problem as I did. It feels like he wrote the book for his younger self to learn these things.
There are 4 major aspects that matter to me when reading a nonfiction book. These include: comprehensibility; relevance; directness; and grammar. This book satisfied all these aspects. Addedly, the book was not only professionally written, but also exceptionally well edited. For that reason, I am going to give it an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars.
******
A Systems Thinking Decision Making Process
View: on Bookshelves
Latest Review: Breksta's Academy by Natasha Quay
