Author Description

On Purposeful Systems provides an innovative foundation for looking at human and social behavior—as a system of purposeful (teleological) events. It uses a systems theoretical approach for the study of these phenomena, and illustrates and extends general systems theory. “What makes this book ‘magical’ is that Ackoff provides ‘operational definitions’ for many ill-defined words and concepts—from defining ‘knowledge’ and ‘understanding’ to providing definitions of feelings/emotions.... [T]his book represents a [paradigm] shift that has yet to be appreciated, thirty years later.”—W. Curtiss Priest, Massachusetts Institute of Technology