Systems thinking for the enterprise: new and emerging perspectives

New and emerging modes of thought are increasingly being recognized as essential to successful systems engineering in enterprises. This new systems thinking is emerging at the intersection of seminal ideas from modern system thinkers, the broad discipline of information technology, and the theory of complex adaptive systems, particularly those from evolutionary biology and social systems. Part of this new systems thinking requires a replacement of the notion that specific engineering outcomes or goals can always be assured with one that seeks to shape, improve, or increase the value of engineering outcomes through thoughtful interventions in the ever-increasing numbers of circumstances in which we are not fully in control