Critical Realism and Morphogenetic Leadership: Leading in Complex Public Systems

Critical Realism and Morphogenetic Leadership offers public-sector, NGO and organisational leaders a rigorous yet practical framework for leading in complex, fast-changing systems. Drawing on Critical Realism and Margaret Archer's morphogenetic approach, the author develops the SIA-T framework (Structure, Ideational Systems, Agency over Time) and the T1-T4 Morphogenetic Cycle as diagnostic tools for understanding why interventions succeed or fail in open social systems. Grounded in South African and broader Global South case material, the book moves between theory and practice, offering leaders, executive coaches, and researchers a developmental compass for sequencing interventions, diagnosing structural and ideational constraints, and building durable institutional change. Readers will include public sector leaders, policy-makers, executive coaches and mentors, and postgraduate students and researchers in leadership, development studies, and social theory who want a theoretically grounded, practice-ready alternative to conventional leadership frameworks.

About the Author

Deon Pretorius is a sociologist, researcher, and leadership and development practitioner holding a PhD from the University of Warwick. He is the Managing Director of Development Partners and the International Institute for Collaborative Development, and a mentor for the International Centre for Local Democracy (Stockholm). He balances private practice with academic roles teaching Development Studies at Nelson Mandela University (NMU) and the NMU Business School, serving as an affiliated researcher at Jönköping University, and was previously a visiting Professor at the University of Washington.