Thinking in Systems: International Bestseller

Good book. I needed it for class, but I actually enjoyed how the world was explained through a series of systems. You can definitely use the material in this book to look at the world around you, including companies and the difference between why something works, and what are the factors that keep it running. I see why this is a bestseller, especially because it breaks down concepts in ethics when we apply them to systems and loop diagrams very well, which is a majority of what I used the book to learn about.

There are a few books that encapsulate a way of thinking so simply, so clearly and so compellingly that I find myself giving little kisses of delight to the cover. I read this on a Kindle, so this resulted in quite a lot of smudging. I am not a student of systems or someone who ever spent much time thinking about systems at all, although, like practically everybody, my life and work are all about either creating, maintaining, supporting, or surviving various systems. I heard about this book from a Tweet referring to its twenty-fifth anniversary and linking to an article singing its praises, which it does better than I can. For me, it has been a truly revelatory experience, a platonic slave-in-the-cave moment, which I believe will divide my cognitive experience into pre and post its reading. As Meadows warns at its outset, studying systems leads one to see systems everywhere, which, of course, is because they were there all along. But being able to see and interpret them allows us to better participate and avoid traps that commonly lead to system failure. Sadly, it also allows us to understand why some decisions taken by executives, politicians, and others that manage systems in which we have little or no control are doomed to failure and to undermine their own goals. This awareness will help readers become better citizens/coworkers and critics of leadership. But it can also help us avoid issues that threaten our own, smaller systems, our relationships, families, homes, work, and health. This book draws heavily on examples from the time in which it was written, which artificially sets the book in a particular historical moment. Meadows simply had so many examples to chose from, that she took quotes from contemporaneous newspaper articles. But the examples might as well be chosen from today’s stories or those from hundreds of years ago. They are just examples. This book is timeless. These quotes from the early nineties have the added benefit of proving her point, as in most cases history has borne out the predictions that stem from the flaws and features that Meadows points out. Note that there were some oddities in the Kindle version. A few words seem to have disappeared in various places in the transposition. I bought a hard copy of the book and was able to fill the gaps (just a few words here and there, nothing that would keep me from recommending the Kindle edition). I hope the editors will correct this. The end of the book contains a very useful appendix that I am tempted to tear out and put up on the wall, detailing fundamentals of systems thinking. I could not recommend this highly enough.

Well, the book is great but it has some damage on it and it was delivered to the wrong place so that's why I gave 4 stars but I really recommend the book!

Thinking in Systems, a Primer is good reading for everybody. The author Donella Meadows who during her lifetime was a scientist trained in chemistry and biophysics, and ultimately was a teacher and researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Despite her academic standing and the sophisticated world of research in which she worked and lived, her writing is accessible to anyone, from middle school onward through high school and university students. The book is replete with charts and graphs, short asides to emphasize particular points, problem-solving scenarios, and it uses familiar examples to make its points. Systems are nonlinear, and they are almost infinitely scalable, with different effects and consequences at each level observed. Scoping out the system into its component parts, and observing the functionalities of how it operates, will tell you a great deal about what you would need to do in order to accomplish a particular goal, and what to watch out for along the way. Thinking in systems as an ongoing daily activity is a necessary adjunct to wisdom and maturity. Actions have consequences; and consequences can be planned and proactive, or they can be regressive than reactive. In terms of human activity, systems create and channel energy; they store and utilize energy; and as they decay, they lose energy and either dissipate or die. We are all part of one system or another, or many at a single point in time, now and throughout our lives. It pays to know how to deal with system dynamics; because those who fail or refuse to do so are likely to be unsuccessful in whatever goal they are seeking to accomplish. You do not need to be a scientist or mathematician in order to appreciate the values of this book. I highly recommend it.

This was a fantastic read. A perfect balance in holistic analysis of Systems Theory and its direct implications in modern society. I would recommend this to anyone studying Systems Theory formally and informally.

Overview: Thinking in Systems: A Primer is exactly as the title suggests. Though this book will help give the reader an overview of systems, it is only a primer. This book is good for a beginner in systems thinking, looking for an overview of the basic parts, implications, and workings of systems. Meadows has the ability to take the reader to a level where one can see how systems work in this world as a whole. At the same time, Meadows is detailed enough to show how an everyday system, such as a thermostat, works in detail. Problems: Though Thinking in Systems is a primer to systems thinking in general, the book contains more than that, it contains Meadows world view. Any future reader should be prepared to witness Meadows directly, or indirectly presenting her far left worldview throughout the book. Issues such involving the economy, population control, global warming, religion, and evolution are brought into the book, and held have primary examples for systems. In spite of this fact, there is much that the reader can learn about systems. Benefits: Though Thinking in Systems may not be the best textbook, and does contain strong personal views, there is still much that can be learned about systems thinking. For anyone looking for a book to read that provides general information about how systems function, their role and influence on this world, and how to use them to ones benefit, this book is recommended. For academic purposes: This book is made up of a compilation of Meadow’s personal unpublished notes, which makes the book follow a somewhat unsystematic order. Thinking in Systems brings covers a wide range of topics such as, global warming population control, religion, evolution, and the economy and could be more useful as a book for ethics, rather than systems. Though is book would make a good required reading for a class setting, it is not advised for a main textbook. Structure: This book is divided into three parts: 1. System structure and Behavior, 2. Systems and Us, and 3. Creating Change- in Systems and in our Philosophy. Part one deals with the basics of what systems are and how they function, part two discusses how systems work in the world around us, and part three talks about how we can leverage systems to create change.

I’ve read several books on systems thinking, over the years, and wish I’d found this one first. Meadows builds a clear, solid foundation and layers on insights. The book is both practical and inspiring. It can change how you see the world. Highly recommend.

I was trained as a nuclear plant operator. As such, my whole career has dealt with system thinking. But those systems were physical, mechanical, electrical and analog & digital controls. As my career advanced I became more involved with management of large scale projects. I read The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt and realized organizations like companies are people systems. That led me to expand my understanding of systems. That's why I picked up this book. It didn't disappoint. Although a number of examples are dated, this the 4 star rating, they are still good enough to get the message across. As a test engineer, I really appreciate the book's conclusion: That systems are complex and one discipline will not be able to completely understand them. Successful understanding of systems requires interdisciplanary effort with all parties being somewhat humble and working together to define the best possible solution. Note: Based on my experience, when silos are allowed to exist between disciplines, you will find system problems will exist at the interfaces between disciplines. Start your search there and take steps to remove the silos. Removing the silos should create a cooperative balance between the disciplines leading to a team effort to develop a good understanding if the system. I recommend this book for those beginning with system training or for those with experience, like myself, who want to expand the application of system thinking into other areas.

This primer lays out systems theory basics in a way that is easy to understand and fun to read. I have been going through the bibliography for some further reading.

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As the title suggests, this book is written as a 'primer' into the subject, and it fulfils this function with ease and grace. It has the confident feel and logical evolved structure of a book written by someone who had completely mastered her subject and was well used to introducing these key ideas to her university students. There is a strong emphasis within the book on economic and environmental issues, which suited me well. I presume that the late author held quite progressive environmental views anyway, but systems thinking engenders and illuminates environmental concerns better than any other approach I can think of. The sections on resource depletion are both fascinating and frighteningly realistic. Although the issues and underlying thinking was not necessarily always original to systems thinking, the language (labelling of terms) and often counter-intuitive approach of systems modelling has got a lot to give in these two subjects. Concepts introduced such as information hierarchies and resilience, are both common sense and useful intellectual tools at the same time. "I think of resilience as a plateau upon which the system can play, performing its normal functions in safety. A resilient system has a big plateau, a lot of space over which it can wonder, with gentle, elastic walls that will bounce it back, if it comes near a dangerous edge. As a system loses its resilience, its plateau shrinks, and its protective walls become lower and more rigid, until the system is operating on a knife edge, likely to fall off in one direction or another whenever it makes a move. Loss of resilience can come as a surprise, because the system usually is paying much more attention to its play than to its playing space. One day it does something it has done a hundred times before and crashes."p78 Looking back through it, the structure of this book is also very good as I have mentioned. It progresses in a logical way from the practicalities of systems thinking through to their implications and ends with some quite philosophical themes and advice. As another reviewer has mentioned, the appendix is actually useful in this book for a change, and seems in parts like a list of the key points of the book in a type of student revision notes form. The writing and citations in this book almost seem to suggest an air of bemused condescension on behalf of systems thinkers for their misdirected non systems thinking fellow man and the subsequent mistakes they make. Similar to the airy condescension of free market economists, but more justified and less disproved by recent events. There are many examples given which justify this air of superiority, and it seems to me to be an easy stance to buy into! Systems thinking does seem to contain the right tools for tackling the biggest contemporary problems. Anyone suggest a suitable follow up book on systems thinking? ( preferably one biased towards economics) Very accessible and recommended to all as an enjoyable introduction to this subject.

Hoe verder en meer ik het boek lees, des te meer ik erachter kom dat Thinking in Systems een verwetenschappelijkte en meer exoterische vorm en uitleg is van de essentie van Alchemie, in tegenstelling tot de meer traditionele, meer mystieke en esoterische verhandelingen over de essentie van Alchemie. Als je het weet, dan weet je het.