Mutual understanding, revisited after nearly 25 years

Almost 25 years have passed since Churchman and Schainblatt published their paper on mutual understanding, “The Researcher and the Manager: A Dialectic of Implementation.” It has had quite an influence on the methodology and the practice of operational research and management science (OR/MS). Here, the concept of mutual understanding is reconsidered in a multiaspect scope, and the role of psychological typologies as a base for mutual understanding is evaluated. Finally, a “diamond of thought” is derived from Kant's three kinds of action.

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