ABOUT US

This website aims to present in one place some of the most important work of Fred and Merrelyn Emery and their colleagues, that which goes by the name of Open Systems Theory (OST).

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OST has an overriding concern that we must benefit the human condition by observing the realities around us and actively adapting to those realities and the changes that are constantly taking place within them. Firstly, it is clear that we have become seriously maladapted with terrible consequence for people and planet and secondly, that we must actively adapt to our changing social environment in the same way that we must actively adapt to our changing planet. When we use effective ways of actively adapting to both our social and physical realms, advantages accrue to all parties concerned.

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OST covers a wide area of social science and is necessarily transdisciplinary as human concerns do not fit within disciplinary boundaries: there are only people trying to plan a better future, design an organization that enhances human potential rather than degrading it, solve an acute or long standing problem or simply exercise their creativity. OST has various tools to aid with all these activities and is constantly building on our accumulating knowledge of how best to approach them.

As many have discovered over the years, OST does make a difference as it has been developed through the integration of a powerful conceptual framework which is itself based in reality rather than abstractions, and practices that address the most important concerns of people around the world. Combining theory and practice in this way means that OST has been able to add to our knowledge of how the world works while refining methods and other tools that people can use to improve their and other’s present and futures.

People only need to follow some simple concepts and principles that have been discovered in the process of developing OST and apply them to their own circumstances. Therefore, OST has led to a solid body of success stories around the world in areas as diverse as redesigning the workplace for people and productivity, and new statistical methods.

It is to make the pieces of theoretical background and their associated various practical tools more accessible in a central location that we are beginning work on this website. In the following weeks and months we will be putting up a variety of material, firstly mainly in the area of redesign for all organizations, including workplaces, in which there is again increasing interest at the moment.