Flexible Systems Management as an Iterative Process

Iteration is the essence of flexible systems management by repeating the same set of steps with improvement over each previous cycle. Flexible systems management imbibes and balances the hard systems thinking (focused on optimization) and soft systems thinking (focused on learning). The optimization process has two basic steps, i.e. define goals and engineer the system to achieve these goals. The management as an optimization process is also to be carried out using an iterative approach. The other paradigm of management (soft systems thinking) keeps focus on learning which by definition is an iterative process. It is an experimental approach, which caters to the multiple perspectives in a given context. Both learning and optimization, though having different approaches of management, are seen to be iterative in nature. Flexible systems management balances the learning and optimization paradigms in a mutually supportive way. This, thus, takes the iteration at a meta-level between the two inherently iterative processes.