The paper provides data from seven years of experimental practice of Interactive Management in the Center for Interactive Management at George Mason University. Two methodologies, Nominal Group Technique and Interpretive Structural Modeling, are presented as fundamental in combating what Warfield has termed "Underconceptualization" in the design of solutions to complex situations.
This paper was FIRST PUBLISHED in G. de Zeeuw and R. Glanville, Eds., Preliminary Proceedings of the Conference on Support, Society and Culture: Mutual Uses of Cybernetics & Science Part II, University of Amsterdam, 27- 31 March 1989, pp 15-39. Two years later, the paper was typeset and formally published in Amsterdam in the journal Systemica. The Sysytemica journal article contained a number of typographical errors. The errors were so bad that when colleagues wrote to request reprints, Warfield sent a typed copy of his original manuscript instead.
Warfield did not save nor make photocopy of the published Systemica article, because of the errors. Instead of circulating the Systemica article, John Warfield retyped and circulated his own corrected paper but since his retype job was not actually the published version he did not label it as such, instead labelled and dated it as a version created in 1989. Warfield had retyped the entire paper after seeing the 1991 Systemica journal article. He used a new computer and printer and word processor (Word Star abandoned, in favor of new WordPerfect software) in order to produce a better looking format and printout. John Warfield dated his retype version February 1989, representing it not as the 1991 journal article, but rather as a copy of his submission manuscript for the 27-31 March 1989 Conference. When he retyped the WordPerfect version on the new computer he made 3 very minor changes on pages 2, 15, and 16. Therefore it is nearly but not exactly a reproduction of the printed pages 15-39 of a "Preliminary Proceedings" volume issued by the conference organizers at University of Amsterdam in 1989 for the 27-31 March Mutual Uses of Cybernetics & Science Conference. (The Preliminary proceedings, which was just photocopies of the actual papers, did not have the typesetting errors.)
Forgot to add, that in the IASIS File this paper has the number 90/005, indicating a 1990 publication date. This is an error. It should have been 91/005, but at the time Rose Warfield compiled the IASIS File we still believed first communications from Amsterdam conference editors that 1990 would be the publication date. Actually they didn't publish in Amsterdam until 1991, so the true citation date for published version is 1991. (R.W., circa 2011)