During my 15 years as a management consultant (IBM and Aptech) followed by 13 years managing a research and development enterprise of over 200 people (CSIRO), I developed a passionate interest in how decisions are made in unpredictable, uncertain and emergent situations. I recognized that my strong analytic training and early experience (Production and R&D Engineering) were valuable but insufficient for these situations.
During the second half of my time at CSIRO, I began informally developing and refining my practical observations and experience about decision making under emergent uncertainty and unpredictability. This was supplemented with private reading and research in the underpinning areas of complex adaptive systems, sense making, systems dynamics, knowledge management, and behavioral psychology and economics. In early 2013, I left CSIRO to pursue these interests through Discerning Action Pty Ltd, of which I am Founder and Principal.
Over a period of 15 months, I have synthesized my observations, research and insights into a collection of five capabilities that I have called the Adaptive Toolkit. The Adaptive Toolkit brings together experiential learning, design thinking and adaptive action to provide managers and professionals with a suite of capabilities to address situations that are emergent and uncertain – situations in which analysis and planning are not enough.
Consistent with my observations and experience, I expect the business model for Discerning Action to emerge over time. It may be consulting, leadership development, management training or consulting/training product development, or a combination of these. One of the key objectives of this web site is to present and test my observations and perspectives – to let “the situation talk back” – as part of the Adaptive Iteration of the business model for Discerning Action.
I hope you find the thoughts, perspectives and insights presented in this website informative, stimulating and helpful. I welcome all constructive comment and feedback.
Markus Fietz Principal and Founder Discerning Action Pty Ltd
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