Systemic Thinking in China: A Meta-Decision-Making Bridge to Western Concepts

We use a meta-decision-making approach to show that parallels can be drawn between an Oriental systems methodology, wuli, shili, renli (WSR), and the adjusting, convincing, and committing dimensions in nomology, a generic metamodel that is based in decision science. We then use the match between them to propose a metalinguistic bridge between China and the West that could aid in the communication and sharing of systems experiences. We use the bridge to consider some of the interpretations of Chinese systems experiences in terms of Western models in a special issue of Systemic Practice and Action Research (Vol. 13, No. 1, 2000) on systemic thinking in China. We show how WSR could help to relate these interpretations in terms of Chinese concepts. We explore proposals in a paper in the special issue by Midgley et al. (2000) about how to operationalize human relations in Chinese systems practice. We show that these correspond to a suggestion that developing commitment within a systems project should be done in a convincing manner. Hence, in WSR terms, we would say that their advice could be interpreted as meaning that shili should be used to operationalize renli. Finally, we propose as a research agenda that the bridge be used to explore how Chinese insights could help to illuminate Western systems experience.