A quiet influence, not a consulting product
I am particularly influenced by Russell Ackoff and the systems tradition: the idea that system performance comes from the interactions of its parts, that synthesis matters alongside analysis, and that sometimes the most useful intervention changes the conditions producing a problem rather than solving the symptom more efficiently.
The point on a client engagement is not to lecture on systems theory. It is to ask better questions and avoid locally elegant answers that make the wider organisation worse.
Why solving the stated problem can make the system worseSystems thinkingThe system is not the sum of its applicationsSystems thinkingArchitecture begins with interactions, not boxesSystems thinkingIdealized design: what would we build if the current arrangement did not constrain us?Systems thinkingWhen to dissolve a technology problem instead of solving itSystems thinkingEmpathy as an architecture toolSystems thinking