ABSTRACT
This chapter draws out the differences between mainstream, that is, systems thinking about knowledge creation in organizations (see Figure 2.1) and the complex responsive process perspective presented in the chapters of Part II (see Figure 4.5). In Chapter 2, I argued that mainstream thinking is built on assumptions about causality that amount to Formative Teleology and on cognitivist psychological assumptions (Rationalist Teleology) about human acting and knowing. The alternative I have been arguing for in Part II is built on assumptions about causality that amount to Transformative Teleology and action-based assumptions about human knowing. The change in fundamental assumptions becomes particularly evident in differences between the two explanations in relation to the following matters:
● the process of relating between people; ● the nature of memory; ● how new knowledge is created; ● the meaning of tacit knowledge and unconscious process; ● the role of power and communication; ● the nature of dialogue.
