TRANSFORMING SYSTEMS: Why the World Needs a New Ethical Toolkit

by Arun Maira

  • Category Non-Fiction
  • Format Hardcover
  • Imprint Rupa
  • Price 495
  1. ISBN: 978-93-5333-574-8
  2. Pages: 248 pages
  3. Date: 1st August 2019

ABOUT THIS BOOK

By the turn of the millennium, the dominant idea was that not only should the business of business be only business, but countries, governments and civil society organizations should also be run on principles of business.
Soon, the realization that, while economies had been growing, systemic problems of social inequality and environmental unsustainability were becoming intolerable, led to the Sustainable Development Goals, which all countries signed up to achieve. A new toolkit is required to attain these goals that go beyond the precepts of good business management and prevalent best practices in government as well as civil society organizations.
In Transforming Systems, Arun Maira stresses that a new toolkit has to be founded on disciplines of systems thinking, ethical reasoning and deep listening. It should focus more on concepts of governance of networks, rather than the management of organizations. Diverse points of view must be heard and valued, not smothered beneath technology-driven quantitative data analysis. Maira brings the wealth of his knowledge and experience to highlight the uncertainty of our future that is bound to change dynamically, and points out how we can cope with the changes. He insists that the most useful life skill for young people is to learn how to be lifelong learners, sensitive to their own evolution within an evolving system.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Arun Maira is Chairman, HelpAge International. A former Member of India’s Planning
Commission (2009–14), he was with the Tata Group for twenty-five years at top-level positions.
He was also Chairman, Boston Consulting Group, India.
Maira is the author of the bestselling books Listening for Well-Being; Redesigning the Aeroplane
While Flying: Reforming Institutions and An Upstart in Government: Journeys of Change and Learning.