Critical Systems Thinking and Sociological Paradigms

Critical Systems Thinking (CST) is an attempt to integrate systems thinking with the politically radical philosophy known as the critical social science paradigm, emphasising ideas like critical awareness, emancipation and methodological pluralism. However, the way CST consultants typically work with top managers and representatives of the organisational elite, for example when using it for implementing Total Quality Management (TQM), it can be difficult to stay within the paradigm. TQM implementation may end up being planned and implemented through interpretivist and functionalist philosophies, ignoring the politics and perhaps even making the organisation more oppressive than it used to be. In this paper, it is argued that CST-based implementation of TQM is more likely to become successful when being run by internal CST consultants who identify with the oppressed, view critical awareness and emancipation within the context of their own political struggles, and use the PDCA process of TQM for managing methodological pluralism.