The Organic Systems Framework

Barry Oshry is a pioneer in the field of human systems thinking. His life's work has been to empower individuals and organizations by transforming system-blindness into system-sight. The educational programs he has developed include The Power Lab, the Organization Workshop on Creating Partnership, and the When Cultures Meet Workshop. In 2013 he launched The Worldwide Week of Partnership, during which Power+Systems trainers across the globe conduct pro bono partnership events for educational, charitable, advocacy, and service organizations in their local communities. In 2015 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Organization Development Network.Barry is the author of The Systems Letter, Seeing Systems, Leading Systems, In the Middle, and The Possibilities of Organization. He is also a playwright whose stage productions include "What a Way to Make a Living," "Hierarchy," "Power Play," and "Peace."¿In 1975 he and his wife and partner, Karen Ellis Oshry, founded Power+Systems, Inc. whose worldwide network of trainers continues the work of empowering individuals and organizations by transforming system-blindness into system-sight.

In this persuasively argued booklet, Barry Oshry establishes that, despite frequent references to paradigms in management and organization literature, there are no scientific paradigms in this field (as defined by Thomas Kuhn in his landmark essay on the subject - The Structure of Scientific Revolutions).He goes on to make the case for the Organic System Framework (OSF) being a legitimate candidate for paradigm status. The OSF describes patterns of systemic relationship that exist at all levels and in all types of social systems - family, sports team, work unit, etc. Regardless of our designated roles or positions, we are constantly moving in and out of these relationships.He concludes by setting out three core reasons for proposing OSF as a prime paradigm candidate and outlines five broad avenues for future research.