{"product_id":"beating-the-system-isbn-9781576753309","title":"Beating the System","description":"When was the last time you dealt with a bureaucracy—the phone company, an airline, a hospital, school, or government agency—and got what you wanted without weaving through a maze of infuriating hand-offs? Have you found these systems to be utterly indifferent to the inconvenience or hardship they cause? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Russell Ackoff and Sheldon Rovin say, \"Enough is enough!\" They have extensively studied organizational systems—how they function and malfunction, what drives them, and where their weaknesses are. Here they share both perversely entertaining anecdotes about the abuse of individuals by various bureaucracies and detail the creative—and deeply satisfying—approaches these people used to get even. Best of all, they offer successful strategies and tactics you can use to pinpoint the weakness of any system and exploit it to your advantage.Preface\u003cbr\u003e Introduction\u003cbr\u003e Part I. What You Need to Know to Beat Systems\u003cbr\u003e 1 Why Systems Need to Be Beaten\u003cbr\u003e Necessity mothers inversion\u003cbr\u003e 2 Understanding Systems \u003cbr\u003e Knowledge without understanding is a misguided missile\u003cbr\u003e 3 The Nature of Creativity\u003cbr\u003e Those in boxes can't think out of them\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Part II. System Beaters: Their Stories \u003cbr\u003e 4 Denying Assumptions\u003cbr\u003e Say it isn't so\u003cbr\u003e 5 Turnabout Is Fair Play \u003cbr\u003e Do unto the system as it would do unto you\u003cbr\u003e 6 Divide and Conquer \u003cbr\u003e When the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing\u003cbr\u003e 7 Threaten the System \u003cbr\u003e Squeeze, but sometimes please\u003cbr\u003e 8 Sidestep Constraints\u003cbr\u003e Dazzle them with your footwork\u003cbr\u003e 9 When All Else Fails, Revolt\u003cbr\u003e You have nothing lose but your frustration\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Part III. System Beating in a Nutshell and\u003cbr\u003e Systems Unbeatable \u003cbr\u003e 10 Rules of Thumb for System Beaters \u003cbr\u003e The gist of it\u003cbr\u003e 11 Making Systems Unbeatable \u003cbr\u003e An ounce of prevention\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Stories by System Category\u003cbr\u003e Sources \u003cbr\u003e Index \u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e An Invitation to System Beaters \u003cbr\u003e About the Authors“I loved the book and read every blessed word of it, savored it, and recommended it to virtually every sentient person I know who works in an organized setting.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Management at USC and author of \u003ci\u003eOn Becoming a Leader\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eGeeks and Geezers\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"No one has contributed more to systems thinking in management than Russell Ackoff and Sheldon Rovin. Who better to offer a lifetime of insight into how systems work and how to keep them from preventing creative work?\" \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Peter Senge, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Fifth Discipline\u003c\/i\u003e and Founding Chair, Society for Organizational Learning\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ”Two of the most thoughtful people on Systems Thinking have taken the courageous step of pointing out what you can do when the entity or activity in which you are seeking a product or service is not operating at the level of systemic interaction the authors have spent much of their lives attempting to create.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Vincent P. Barabba, former General Manager, Corporate Strategy and Knowledge Development, General Motors\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eRussell L. Ackoff is Anheuser-Busch Professor Emeritus of Management Science at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. \u003cbr\u003e Sheldon Rovin is Emeritus Professor of Healthcare Systems at the Wharton School of Business.","brand":"Berrett-Koehler Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300357918949,"sku":"NP9781576753309","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781576753309.jpg?v=1767722307","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/beating-the-system-isbn-9781576753309","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}