COVER -- CONTRIBUTORS -- CONTENTS -- Introduction -- 1· Basic Concepts Underlying the Systemic Approach to Organizations -- a. How organizations change -- b. The great problem of difference -- c. The meaning of people in organizations -- d. Why organizations have trouble negotiating change -- e. Connecting different beliefs within the organization -- f. Feedback -- g. The observer position -- 2. Basic Concepts Underlying Development Consultation -- 1. Co-evolving systems -- 2. Hypothesizing -- 3. Circularity -- 4. Neutrality -- 5. Interventions -- 3. Useful Ideas and Hypotheses about Organizations -- 1. The organizational life cycle -- 2. Beginning to understand organizations as systems- moving from two-person to three-person systems -- a. The two-person system -- b. Three-person system -- 3. The 'meat in the sandwich' -- 4. Breaking competitive deadlocks -- 5. The problem of the multi-disciplinary team -- 6. The language of organizations: or, making nouns into part of a systemic process -- 4. Acknowledgements -- 5. The Practice of Development Consultation -- 1. Referral procedures -- 2. Hypothesizing about the referral -- 3. Designing a consultation -- 4. Interviewing using circular questioning -- 5. Reflective discussion -- 6. Exercises -- 7. Strategic planning -- 8. Giving structured feedback -- 9. Hypothesizing about the client's feedback -- 6. Some Useful Ideas about the Context of the Organization -- 7. Case Study -- 8. Conclusion: A Final Conversation, or: A Consultation to the Reader -- REFERENCES -- INDEX.