Changing Organizations

'The publication of this book broadens the horizon of the Systemic Thinking and Practice Series. Because there is relatively little being written about work in organizations from the systemic perspective, we felt we should bring these examples of organized consultation to the attention of readers who might have missed them when they were first printed in a special edition of the Human Systems Journal a few years ago. We are also pleased to collaborate with Alan Cooklin, a consultant in his own right, who edited that special edition and prepared this book for publication in this series.'There is enormous diversity among the projects undertaken in this volume, and while some of the contributing consultants would not describe themselves as systemic practitioners, there is nonetheless a common thread uniting the contributions. That is, compared to other approaches, these authors relate organizational problems and dilemmas to meaning structures, and they clearly describe the ways their client agencies interact with the broader context of other agencies and socio/cultural values. We have found that this book provides a rich mine of ideas that stimulate thought and challenge us to transfer the techniques from one context to another.'- David Campbell and Ros Draper, from their Foreword

• Editors' Foreword -- Foreword -- Introduction -- Frameworks for the organization and for the agent of change -- Language, practices, and record-keeping: a reflective consultation and some institutional changes that resulted from it -- Connecting personal experience to the primary task: a model for consulting to organizations -- The feelings of the consultant as indicators of problems and solutions -- Black people working in "white institutions": lessons from personal experience -- Organizational change in the Probation Service -- Collaborative inquiry: a postmodern approach to organizational consultation -- “Inside” consultation through self-differentiation: stimulating organizational development in the IDF's care of intractable, war-related, traumatic disorders -- Family–school collaboration: consultation to achieve institutional and community change