Textbook in PDF format

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.
Contents at a glance
Foreword by Ray Stata
Preface
Introduction: The birth of an idea
Idealized design: the basics
The stages of idealized design
Organizing the process
Preparing for an idealized design process
Idealized design: applications — the process in action
Business enterprises
Not-for-profit and government organizations
Process improvement
Problem dissolving
Facilities and sites design
Take the plunge
Idealized design: no limit — applications to world challenges
The urban challenge
The health-care challenge
The challenge to government
Complete idealized designs
Energetics (business enterprise)
Academy of vocal arts (not-for-profit)
White house communications agency (government)
Endnotes
Annotated bibliography
Index