The Third Lens
among Top 10
in the June 2007 issue of
Complexity Digest

The Third Lens

Multi-ontology Sense-Making and Strategic Decision-Making

 

Mika Aaltonen
Head & Chairman of the Board StraX (the research unit for strategic intelligence and exploration of futures), Helsinki University of Technology

The Third Lens is written for 21st century strategists, people and organizations, who struggle daily with multiple co-existing ontological, epistemological and methodological discourses.

Two ideas form the intellectual basis of The Third Lens. Firstly, the nature of a project, its work and the strategic landscape where the work is carried out should influence (the third lens, i.e. ontology) the two other lenses that create our understanding of the world we live in (i.e. our epistemological and methodological choices). Secondly, the importance of time in our analysis; especially the use of chronotopes, places in time, serve as reflection points for sense-making and strategic decision-making with respect to the situation where they take place as well as conceptual vehicles for managing multiple times and realities.

Visit www.ashgate.com for more details plus a discount on online orders

ASHGATE
40 years of independent publishing
 
  • June 2007
  • c. 200 pages
  • Hardpack
  • ISBN 978 0 7546 4798 0
  • 55,00 £

This is a must read for planners worldwide. The Third Lens dissects the complex tradeoffs between the properties of strategic landscape and time frame at stake to help you to see what you did not see before and to practice possibilities around you.'
Michael S. Loescher, Executive Director, The Copernicus Institute, US

'Multi-ontology sense-making, with its explicit recognition that there are differing types of system in which different causal assumptions apply offers a radically new way of approaching management in an uncertain world. Mika's book is a vital contribution to this field. I strongly recommend it.'
Dave Snowden, Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, Cognitive Edge Pte Ltd, UK

'There is no doubt that this book will become a cornerstone for multi-ontology sense-making. By reading this book, I realised how powerful such an approach could be.'
Patrick L. Hetzel, Chaired Professor of Management Sciences, University Panthéon-Assas, Paris; Rector of the Academy of Limoges and Chancellor of the University, France

Contents

Introduction - before this book was written

Part I Re-Setting Our Thoughts

  • Strategic decision-making - how it is, and how it used to be
    Mika Aaltonen
  • Making sense of the past, present and future
    Mika Aaltonen
  • Sense-making in relation to time and the strategic landscape
    Mika Aaltonen

Part II Modelling Sense-Making

  • A foresight model for evaluating long-term growth: Formel-G
    Stefan Bergheim, Deutsche Bank
  • A political early warning-response system to address global and regional threats
    Tapio Kanninen, United Nations
  • Platforms, pieces and probabilities - introducing the 3P-model
    Mika Aaltonen

Part III Revisiting Causal Theory

  • Sensitiveness to initial conditions: reconceptualizing cause
    Mika Aaltonen and T. Irene Sanders, Washington Centre for Complexity
  • Making sense of a complex world
    Paul Cilliers, Stellenbosch University
  • The emergence of final cause
    Eve Mitleton-Kelly, London School of Economics
  • Part IV Conclusions
  • Conclusions - after this book was written
    Mika Aaltonen

To obtain discount, order online quoting the reference: FL2657
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