Bartley J. Madden
Conventional psychology says your brain fits stimuli into a symbolic map of the world and calculates actions in response, an idea established in the early days of computers. But actually, even a well-designed robot doesn’t work that way. The better explanation is that your brain controls input perceptions through actions to reduce the discrepancy between what we are experiencing and what we want to experience. This field of study is called Perceptual Control Theory (PCT). PCT opens the way to innovative thinking about the behavior of all living creatures—especially people. With such a broad scope, as this book
explains, PCT leads to insights that can help management achieve a firm’s purpose through improvements in productivity, employee job satisfaction, and win-win relationships among the firm’s key stakeholders.
Bartley Madden
BARTLEY J. MADDEN retired as a managing director of Credit Suisse HOLT after a career in investment research and money management that included the development of the cash-fl ow return on investment (CFROI) valuation framework that is used today by money management firms worldwide. His previous book Value Creation Principles: The Pragmatic Theory of the Firm Begins with Purpose and Ends with Sustainable Capitalism positions the business firm as the fundamental unit of analysis for economic
progress.