Mindfulness into Action: Applying Systemic Thinking and Exploring the Potential for Developing Reflective Leaders

View Sample PDF

Author(s): Mariana I. Vergara Esquivel (Teachers College, Columbia University, USA), Barbara Wallace (Teachers College, Columbia University, USA), Xiaoxue Du (Teachers College, Columbia University, USA), Yi-Hui Chang (Teachers College, Columbia University, USA), Aurora Brito (Teachers College, Columbia University, USA), Fung Ling Ong (Teachers College, Columbia University, USA), Edmund W. Gordon (Teachers College, Columbia University, USA), Adam Mac Quarrie (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway), Carl D. Brustad Tjernstad (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway), Hroar Klempe (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway), Jingyi Dong (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway), Ingunn Hagen (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway), Marit Honerød Hoveid (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway), Mariana I. Tamariz (Rutgers University, USA), Daniel Williams (University of Massachusetts, USA), David Lauri (Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain), Rosario Galvan (Center for World Indigenous Studies, USA), Yvonne Dennis (Nitchen, USA)and Julia A. Morales-Abbud (New York University, USA)
Copyright: 2017
Pages: 17
Source title: Encyclopedia of Strategic Leadership and Management
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Viktor Wang (Florida Atlantic University, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-1049-9.ch097

Keywords: Business & Management / Business Science Reference / Management Science

Purchase

View Mindfulness into Action: Applying Systemic Thinking and Exploring the Potential for Developing Reflective Leaders on the publisher's website for pricing and purchasing information.

Abstract

Our Mindfulness into Action (MIA) research includes indigenous practices in exploring the potential for developing reflective leaders. When conducting research, Flood (2006) describes the system thinking approach as having two components: system thinking and systemic thinking. Understanding the difference between these two influences would provide a more comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon (intangible) and how it relates to research. System thinking is objective (tangible). This objective data is measured by quantitative and qualitative research method approaches. On the other hand, systemic thinking is subjective (intangible) as in the case with our taken-for-granted assumptions, which in this dissertation are measured qualitatively. The power of effective problem solving not only involves efficiency (tangible data), but also evaluates perspectives. Scholars such as, Senge (1990) describes this involuntary habitual life as mental models, yet we continue to operate within “the Veil” (Du Bois, 1989). Peter Senge (1990) questions if we are prisoners of the system or prisoners of our own thinking. In his book “The Fifth Discipline” he describes mental models as deeply engrained assumptions, generalizations or even pictures or images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action. If we can identify our mental models, this information can help in appreciating the forces that are shaping reality and how we are part of those forces and therefore, we can in turn affect them. Identifying our mental models allows for a neutral ground where different perspectives can meet to find a possible solution to the issue at hand. As participants identify their mental models, we describe the data from a MIA exploratory study; this chapter develops in four dimensions: subjectivity (e.g. mental models), objectivity (e.g. behavior), inter-subjectivity (e.g., culture), and inter-objectivity (e.g. systems).

The IRMA Community

Research IRM

Mindfulness into Action: Applying Systemic Thinking and Exploring the Potential for Developing Reflective Leaders

Purchase

Abstract

Related Content

IRMA Sponsors