Creating the Corporate Future: Plan or Be Planned for

I recently had reason to re-read this 1981 book and, as with so much of Ackoff's writing, was astonished at the freshness and relevance of a book that is now over 20 years old. Ackoff is a brilliant and original systemic thinker. His concept of 'the mess', which needs to be formulated for planning ends and means, anticipated (1981) much later work based on complexity. The book consists of two parts. The first Part is on our changing concept of the world, the corporation and of planning. The second Part works through: * 'formulating the mess'; * ends planning in terms of idealized design, design of management systems and organizational design; * means planning, expressed as formulating and evaluating alternatives; * resource planning; and * implementation and control of plans and planning. 'Formulating the Mess' is a key concept of Ackoff's. "... a corporation's mess is the future implied by its and its environment's current behavior. Every system contains the seeds of its own deterioration and destruction. therefore the purpose of formulating the mess is to identify the nature of these often conceled threats and to suggest changes that can increase the corporation's ability to survive and thrive." Ackoff then sets out three types of study: 1. a detailed systems analysis of the state of the corporation and the nature of its interactions with the environment 2. an obstruction analysis - identification of the obstructions to corporate development 3 preparation of reference projections These together provide a picture of the future the corporation is now in, and provide the basis for ends, means and resource planning to work towards a more sustainable future. The book was years ahead of its time and describes processes that remain highly relevant and useful. There are strong similarities between Ackoff's approach and that of Friend, J. and Hickling, A. Planning Under Pressure: The Strategic Choice Approach.