Classical science, positivism, and modernist philosophy
Organizations are like living systems
• Reality is an objective fact
• There is a single reality
• Truth is transcendent and discoverable
• Reality can be discovered using rational and analytic processes
• Usually teleological
• Collecting and applying valid data using objective problemsolving methods leads to change
• Change can be created, planned, and managed
• Change is episodic, linear, and goal oriented
Emphasis on changing behavior and what people do