The Evolution of Open Systems to the 2 Stage Model

Abstract

The current state of the art in open systems goes by the name of the 2 Stage Model. This paper describes it and traces its origins back through history as far as the group climate experiments conducted by the team led by Kurt Lewin in the late 1930s. There appears to be a general lack of knowledge and/or much misunderstanding about this history today. Other current methods often share these origins although many also include assumptions and components of the Human Relations movement. An example is the Future Search with which the Search Conference is often confused. Open systems and human relations are two major traditions in today’s organizational field and in their modern forms, they both draw from the work of Lewin, albeit different parts of it.