John E. Jones

perceive. Or, to take a second example, communication is a mutual function of your
world and of my world or it is not communication.
In this limited but most profound sense, human behavior is free, or open. Fully
human activity does not “belong to” prior events. Rather it develops out of the full,
mutually causal participation of individuals in other ongoing systems of events.
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE OPEN-SYSTEM MODEL
Seen in sharp contrast to machine-theory notions of people and organizations, the opensystem
model of growth is particularly useful.
Machines and mechanical systems in general are formed from fixed parts according
to an a priori plan. Their order is determined prior to their existence and, to the extent
that they are well built, this order provides steady performance. This standardized
predictability is of the greatest value in mechanical systems.
Open systems, however, develop through individually unique histories. Their order
evolves in the course of their existence and, to the extent that they are adaptive, past
histories are carried forward in new efficiencies. Particular and unique events and ways
are the hallmarks of open systems.
A person’s intelligence, sensitivity, and ability are not original or separable pieces
of the individual. They develop in the course of the individual’s life and exist only as a
part of that person. A group’s decision-making process, style of communication, and
other ways and norms do not exist before but only in the course of the group’s life. An
organization’s structure and tasks and methods evolve out of the history of the
organization’s transactions with its changing members and environment.
Order
The conception of order as something given and fixed is bound up with a conservative
approach. Society and individuals are thought of as closed, unchanging things—like a
machine and its parts. Order seen as development and change, though, is linked to a
progressive approach. Society and individuals are thought of as open, developing
things—like a game and its plays, or an artistic movement and its works or
performances. Mechanical systems are necessarily conservative or fixed in their
functioning because the whole is the structure of its parts. Open systems can progress
and develop because the whole can structure or modify its parts.
Three Essential Factors
An individual system—whether a person, a group, or an organization—will develop
humanly to the extent that it is an open system. The development of open systems
appears to depend on the presence of three essential factors: (1) rationality, (2) steadystate
maintenance, and (3) feedback.
Rationality is present to the extent that the system’s action is purposive and coping.
It is absent when behavior is disorganized or defensive. Purposive, coping action
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The Pfeiffer Library Volume 3, 2nd Edition. Copyright ©1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer