Barry Oshry: Seeing Systems. Unlocking the Mysteries of Organizational Life, Berrett-Koehler, 1995

Don't be mislead by the seeming simplicity of this book. It has been written quite unconventionally and non-academically. Most paragraphs are one sentence long. But the book is insightful and convincing, seeing into the systems we don't see with mind-opening clarity.
Key concept: Dance of Blind Reflex.

"In systems life, we humans are in constantly shifting patters of relationship with one another. For the most part, this phenomenon of being in relationship is invisible to us. We tend to experience ourselves as whole and autonomous beings rather than as being in relationship. As a consequence, we blindly fall into certain unproductive and destructive dances with one another. We fall out of the possibility of partnership and into relationship of misunderstanding, opposition, antogonism, and destruction." (p. 127)

"A test of our humanity. It is a test of our ability to move to a new level of possibility for ourselves as human beings." (p. 204)