Gerald Robert Midgley (born 1960) is a British organizational theorist, professor of systems thinking, director of the Centre for Systems Studies at the University of Hull, and past president (2013-2014) of the International Society for the Systems Sciences. He is known for his work on "Systemic Intervention;" [1] [2] which he defined as "purposeful action by an agent to create change in relation to reflection upon boundaries." [3]
Midgley received his BA from London University, and his M.Phil and in 1992 his PhD from the City University London with the thesis, entitled. Unity and Pluralism. [4] [5]
From 1997 to 2003 Midgley was Director of the Centre for Systems Studies at the University of Hull. In 2003 he went to Australia to become adjunct professor at the University of Queensland, and senior science leader at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research in New Zealand. In 2004 he also became adjunct professor at the Victoria University of Wellington, and in 2007 adjunct professor at the University of Canterbury. Since 2010 back in England he is Professor of systems thinking and again director of the Centre for Systems Studies at the University of Hull. [6]
Midgley's research interests are in the fields of philosophy, methodology and practice, especially in interrelationship between those three. With Michael Jackson, Robert L. Flood and Werner Ulrich he originated Critical systems thinking, and with Ulrich he developed the theory of boundary critique. [6]
Midgley has authored and/or edited eleven books and over 300 papers. A selection:
Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts. It has been used as a way of exploring and developing effective action in complex contexts, enabling systems change. Systems thinking draws on and contributes to systems theory and the system sciences.
Systems science, also referred to as systems research, or, simply, systems, is a transdisciplinary field that is concerned with understanding simple and complex systems in nature and society, which leads to the advancements of formal, natural, social, and applied attributions throughout engineering, technology and science, itself.
Russell Lincoln Ackoff was an American organizational theorist, consultant, and Anheuser-Busch Professor Emeritus of Management Science at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Ackoff was a pioneer in the field of operations research, systems thinking and management science.
Charles West Churchman was an American philosopher and systems scientist, who was Professor at the School of Business Administration and Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He was internationally known for his pioneering work in operations research, system analysis and ethics.
Sandra G. Harding is an American philosopher of feminist and postcolonial theory, epistemology, research methodology, and philosophy of science. She directed the UCLA Center for the Study of Women from 1996 to 2000, and co-edited Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society from 2000 to 2005. She is currently a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Education and Gender Studies at UCLA and a Distinguished Affiliate Professor of Philosophy at Michigan State University. In 2013 she was awarded the John Desmond Bernal Prize by the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S).
Systems philosophy is a discipline aimed at constructing a new philosophy by using systems concepts. The discipline was first described by Ervin Laszlo in his 1972 book Introduction to Systems Philosophy: Toward a New Paradigm of Contemporary Thought. It has been described as the "reorientation of thought and world view ensuing from the introduction of "systems" as a new scientific paradigm".
William Sweet is a Canadian philosopher, and a past president of the Canadian Philosophical Association and of the Canadian Theological Society.
Michael Christopher Jackson OBE is a British systems scientist, consultant and Emeritus Professor of Management Systems and former Dean of Hull University Business School, known for his work in the field of systems thinking and management.
Robert Louis (Bob) Flood is a British organizational scientist, former Professor of Management Sciences at the University of Hull, specialized in applied systemic thinking, particularly in the areas of strategic management, organizational behavior and organizational improvement.
Boundary critique (BC) is the concept in critical systems thinking that, according to Ulrich (2002), states that "both the meaning and the validity of professional propositions always depend on boundary judgments as to what 'facts' (observation) and 'norms' are to be considered relevant" or not.
Critical systems thinking (CST) is a systems approach designed to aid decision-makers, and other stakeholders, improve complex problem situations that cross departmental and, often, organizational boundaries. CST sees systems thinking as essential to managing multidimensional 'messes' in which technical, economic, organizational, human, cultural and political elements interact. It is critical in a positive manner because it seeks to capitalize on the strengths of existing approaches while also calling attention to their limitations. CST seeks to allow systems approaches such as systems engineering, system dynamics, organizational cybernetics, soft systems methodology, critical systems heuristics, and others, to be used together, in a responsive and flexible way, to maximize the benefits they can bring.
Gu Jifa is a Chinese systems scientist, and Professor of Operations Research and Systems Engineering at the Institute of Systems Science, Academy of Mathematics and System Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is known for hs proposal of the "oriental Wu-li Shi-li Ren-li system approach." He is an academician of the International Academy for Systems and Cybernetic Sciences.
Lenard Raphael Troncale is an American biologist, systems theorist, Professor Emeritus of Cellular and Molecular Biology, and former Director of the Institute for Advanced Systems Studies at the California State Polytechnic University.
Werner Ulrich is a Swiss social scientist and practical philosopher, and a former professor of the theory and practice of social planning at the University of Fribourg. He is known as one of the originators of critical systems thinking (CST) and in particular for the development of critical systems heuristics.
Jennifer M. Wilby is an American and UK management scientist, past director of the Centre for Systems Studies, and a senior lecturer and researcher in management systems and sciences at The Business School, University of Hull. She served as president of the International Society for the Systems Sciences for the term 2010–2011.
Systems-oriented design (SOD) uses system thinking in order to capture the complexity of systems addressed in design practice. The main mission of SOD is to build the designers' own interpretation and implementation of systems thinking. SOD aims at enabling systems thinking to fully benefit from design thinking and practice and design thinking and practice to fully benefit from systems thinking. SOD addresses design for human activity systems and can be applied to any kind of design problem ranging from product design and interaction design through architecture to decision-making processes and policy design.
DSRP is a theory and method of thinking, developed by systems theorist and cognitive scientist Derek Cabrera. It is an acronym that stands for Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, and Perspectives. Cabrera posits that these four patterns underlie all cognition, that they are universal to the process of structuring information, and that people can improve their thinking skills by learning to use the four elements explicitly.
Raymond L. Ison is an Australian-British cybernetician, systems scholar/scientist, and Professor of Systems at the Open University in the UK. He is currently President of the International Federation for Systems Research (IFSR). He was also Professor Systems for Sustainability at Monash University, and fellow at the Centre for Policy Development, and President of the International Society for the Systems Sciences in the year 2014-15. He is known for his work on systems praxeology within rural development, sustainable management, systemic governance and the design and enactment of learning systems.
Vadim Nikolayevitch Sadovsky (1934–2012) was a Russian professor and Chief of the Department for Philosophical and Sociological Problems of Systems Research, Institute for Systems Analysis, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is known as a promoter of systems theory in Russia.
Systemic intervention is a deliberate operation by intervening agents that seeks people to make alterations in their lives in psychology. This analyses how people deal with challenges in the contemporary era, including their power relations and how they reform relationship with others. Midgley ventured new approach to systems philosophy and social theory that could develop variety usage of the multiple strands of systemic thinking to systemic intervention. Scientific methods could be used as a segment of the intervention practice. However, it does not deal with all of the problems of systemic thinking as well as the science complexity.