Description
Creative Systems Theory is a comprehensive framework for understanding purpose, change, and interrelationship in human systems. Its perspective is applicable to human systems of all scales, from individuals, to organizations, to societies. Creative Systems Theory has particular pertinence to making sense of our time’s defining challenges and understanding what they will require of us. It represents a new kind of conceptual framework, one able to address more directly the living nature of human experience. Put another way, its ideas reflect the new, more mature and dynamic kind of understanding on which our future depends. This brief introduction to Creative Systems Theory is intended for people new to Creative Systems Theory ideas or for those wanting a big-picture overview. It was developed as one in a series of Institute for Creative Development educational resources. Charles M. Johnston, MD is a psychiatrist and futurist. He is best know as the originator of Creative Systems Theory, a comprehensive framework for understanding purpose, change, and interrelationship in human systems that makes a major contribution to contemporary understanding. For many years he was the director of the Institute for Creative Development, a Seattle-based non-partisan think tank and center for advanced leadership training. He is the author of ten books and numerous articles on the future and how we can best prepare to meet it. The concept of Cultural Maturity, a key notion within Creative Systems Theory, addresses how we best understand the times we live in and make choices that support a healthy human future. More information on Dr. Johnston and his work can be found at the Institute for Creative Development website (www.creativesystems.org), at the Institute’s Cultural Maturity blog (www.CulturalMaturityBlog.net), at Dr. Johnston’s Looking to the Future podcast (www.LookingtotheFuture.net), and at the ICD Press webpage (www.hopeandthefuture.com).
