Thinking in systems

a primer

[electronic resource] :, 218 pages

English language

Published July 18, 2009 by Earthscan.

ISBN:
978-1-84977-338-6
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OCLC Number:
320908215

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5 stars (5 reviews)

"Thinking in Systems is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem-solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. This essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world showing readers how to develop the systems-thinking skills that thought leaders across the globe consider critical for 21st-century life. While readers will learn the conceptual tools and methods of systems thinking the heart of the book is grander than methodology. Donella Meadows was known as much for nurturing positive outcomes as she was for delving into the science behind global dilemmas. She reminds readers to pay attention to what is important not just what is quantifiable to stay humble and to continue to learn. In a world growing ever more complicated crowded and interdependent Thinking in Systems helps readers avoid confusion and helplessness the first step toward finding proactive …

3 editions

(I haven't re-read this in a decade, but still think in it)

5 stars

Clear and illustrative use of language shines through this (and is immediately recognizable from Limits to Growth). Really outstanding short introduction to systems thinking, why systems surprise us, and why systems thinking is also no silver bullet for control of the complex systems that make up our world. The best (and final) chapters of this book are available online www.donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/ and www.donellameadows.org/dancing-with-systems/

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Subjects

  • Sustainable development
  • Critical thinking
  • Environmental education
  • Social Policy
  • Social problems
  • Economic development
  • POLITICAL SCIENCE
  • System analysis
  • Simulation methods
  • Public Policy
  • Population
  • Social sciences
  • Decision making
  • Pollution