Synopses & Reviews
What's the best way to drive fundamental, transformative change within your organization? Envision your ideal solution: then, work backwards to where you are. It's called idealized design, and -- as executives in hundreds of organizations will testify -- it's one of the most powerful techniques you'll ever use. Authored by its legendary creator, Wharton Professor Emeritus Russell Ackoff, and leading practitioner Jason Magidson, Idealized Design covers every facet of this breakthrough methodology. You'll learn the fundamental differences between idealized design and traditional process re-engineering, and understand how idealized design eliminates many conventional obstacles to change. Start-to-finish techniques and examples drawn from hundreds of companies, non-profits, and government organizations will show you how to use idealized design to solve your own crisis of tomorrow...today.
Synopsis
""Applying idealized design can and does create breakthrough solutions, to both immediate problems and longer-term strategic goals. This book not only shows how to do it-with rich details from the authors' experiences-but also shows a wide variety of applications across diverse industries. Try it! You'll not be disappointed."" -Andy Collopy, Business Marketing and New Markets Director, Downstream Procurement, BP ""To paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, 'Imagination is the beginning of creation. We imagine what we desire, we will what we imagine, and at last we create what we will.' "Idealized Design" is a powerful tool for breakthrough thinking that will enable you and your organization to imagine, create, and design successful solutions. It's a must-read in today's fast-paced, ever-changing business and social environments."" -R. Gregg Brandyberry, VP, Global Procurement Systems and Operations, GlaxoSmithKline ""Idealized design is a must for any market research toolkit; it enables sea change rather than incremental improvements in new product development and design. And this book provides an engaging account with real-world examples."" -Rachel Dreyfus, Sr. Director, Marketing Research, Time Warner Cable ""Idealized design is one of the most effective change management tools I've ever deployed. By engaging the customer in systematic planning that focuses on the ideal end state and then working back to develop the path for getting there, you improve not just parts of the system, but the system as a whole. Whether you're working on small system development projects, organizational design, or large strategic marketing initiatives, the idealized design process is a proven path for developingand maintaining a competitive advantage."" -Willie Deese, President, Merck Manufacturing Division ""Russ Ackoff and colleagues have produced the best description yet of idealized design. There is no excuse for any manager not to read about one of the most significant developments in management of and for the 21st century. Reading Ackoff is more than tasting a good glass of wine. It's akin to gaining access to the winemaker's secret!"" -Ian Mitroff, The Harold Quinton Distinguished Professor of Business Policy, The Marshall School of Business, USC What's the best way to drive fundamental, transformative change? Envision your ideal solution: then, work backward to where you are. It's called idealized design, and-as executives in hundreds of organizations will testify-it's one of the most powerful techniques you'll ever use. Now, there's a definitive guide to this breakthrough methodology by its legendary creator, Russell L. Ackoff, and leading practitioner, Jason Magidson. You'll learn how to prepare for idealized design, organize it, and execute it from start to finish. The authors reveal the fundamental differences between idealized design and traditional process reengineering, show how idealized design eliminates obstacles to change, and explain how to "dissolve" problems by designing systems that prevent them from arising in the first place. Along the way, you'll see idealized design at work in enterprises, non-profits, and government-and learn how to use it to improve processes, create new products, increase productivity, even save lives.
- Get beyond "it can't be done"
"Clear your mind to identify the best possible outcome"
- Practice, not theory: six steps tosuccess
"From idealization to realization: plan for means, resources, implementations, and controls"
- "Dissolve" problems, don't just mitigate them
"Redesign systems to eliminate problems and prevent new ones"
- Make it real: start-to-finish case studies
"From business process redesign to joint ventures to the war on terrorism"
Read this book, imagine your future, and make it happen! Don't settle for incremental change: "invent tomorrow" "today!"
About the Author
Russell L. Ackoff is Anheuser-Busch Professor Emeritus of Management Science, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He was a member and former Chairman of The Wharton School’s Social Systems Sciences Department, as well as the Busch Center, which specializes in systems planning, research, and design.
Dr. Ackoff is author and co-author of 22 books, including Redesigning the Future, The Art of Problem Solving, Creating the Corporate Future, Revitalizing Western Economies, Management in Small Doses, Ackoff’s Fables, The Democratic Corporation, and his most recent books Re-Creating the Corporation, Ackoff’s Best, Redesigning Society, and Beating the System, the latter two with Sheldon Rovin. His work in research, consulting, and education has involved more than 350 corporations and 75 government agencies in the United States and abroad.
Dr. Ackoff played a key role at the University of Pennsylvania, both in the early history of the Operations Research Group and in establishing the Social Systems Sciences Graduate Group. Since becoming Emeritus, he has been honored by the establishment of the Russell L. Ackoff Endowment in the Wharton School and The Ackoff Center for the Advancement of Systems Approaches in the Engineering School, through which his legacy at the University of Pennsylvania continues.
Jason Magidson is director of innovation processes at GlaxoSmithKline. He has 20 years’ experience helping organizations create an environment where great product and service ideas are generated. His clients have ranged from IKEA and DuPont to startups and non-profits. Magidson founded ProductWish.com,
a Web-based clearinghouse for innovative product improvement ideas. He has written for publications including Harvard Business Review.
Herbert J. Addison is a consulting editor and writer who has served as vice president and executive editor in business and economics for the Oxford University Press, and director of its college textbook department.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Ray Stata xxiii
Preface xxix
Introduction: The Birth of an Idea xxxiii
Part I: Idealized Design: The Basics 1
Chapter 1: The Stages of Idealized Design 3
Chapter 2: Organizing the Process 27
Chapter 3: Preparing for an Idealized Design Process 43
Part II: Idealized Design: Applications–The Process in Action 59
Chapter 4: Business Enterprises 61
Chapter 5: Not-for-Profit and Government Organizations 87
Chapter 6: Process Improvement 103
Chapter 7: Problem Dissolving 117
Chapter 8: Facilities and Sites Design 129
Chapter 9: Take the Plunge 137
Part III: Idealized Design: No Limit–Applications to World Challenges 145
Chapter 10: The Urban Challenge 147
An Urban Car
A Redesign of Paris and Beyond
Chapter 11: The Health-Care Challenge 159
A National Health-Care System
A Health-Care Mall
Chapter 12: The Challenge to Government 171
A National Elections System
A New United Nations
A Response to Terrorism
Part IV: Complete Idealized Designs 187
Chapter 13: Energetics (Business Enterprise) 189
Chapter 14: Academy of Vocal Arts (Not-for-Profit) 219
Chapter 15: White House Communications Agency (Government) 235
Endnotes 265
Annotated Bibliography 267
Index 277