Thinking in Systems: International Bestseller PDF AZW3 EPUB MOBI TXT Download

The classic book on systems thinking―with more than half a million copies sold worldwide!”This is a fabulous book… This book opened my mind and reshaped the way I think about investing.”―Forbes “Thinking in Systems is required reading for anyone hoping to run a successful company, community, or country. Learning how to think in systems is now part of change-agent literacy. And this is the best book of its kind.”―Hunter Lovins In the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth―the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet―Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001.Thinking in Systems is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute’s Diana Wright, 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.Some of the biggest problems facing the world―war, hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation―are essentially system failures. They cannot be solved by fixing one piece in isolation from the others, because even seemingly minor details have enormous power to undermine the best efforts of too-narrow thinking.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 stay a learner.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 and effective solutions.

Donella H. Meadows
December 3, 2008
240 pages
English
978-1603580557

File Size: 49 MB
Available File Formats: PDF AZW3 DOCX EPUB MOBI TXT or Kindle audiobook Audio CD(Several files can be converted to each other)
Language: English, Francais, Italiano, Espanol, Deutsch, chinese

Starred Review. Just before her death, scientist, farmer and leading environmentalist Meadows (1941-2001) completed an updated, 30th anniversary edition of her influential 1972 environmental call to action, Limits to Growth, as well as a draft of this book, in which she explains the methodology-systems analysis-she used in her ground-breaking work, and how it can be implemented for large-scale and individual problem solving. With humorous and commonplace examples for difficult concepts such as a “reinforcing feedback loop,” (the more one brother pushes, the more the other brother pushes back), negative feedback (as in thermostats), accounting for delayed response (like in maintaining store inventory), Meadows leads readers through the increasingly complex ways that feedback loops operate to create self-organizing systems, in nature (“from viruses to redwood trees”) and human endeavor. Further, Meadows explicates methods for fixing systems that have gone haywire (“The world’s leaders are correctly fixated on economic growth …but they’re pushing with all their might in the wrong direction”). An invaluable companion piece to Limits to Growth, this is also a useful standalone overview of systems-based problem solving, “a simple book about a complex world” graced by the wisdom of a profound thinker committed to “shaping a better future.” Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review Publishers Weekly, Starred Review- Just before her death, scientist, farmer and leading environmentalist Meadows (1941-2001) completed an updated, 30th anniversary edition of her influential 1972 environmental call to action, Limits to Growth, as well as a draft of this book, in which she explains the methodology-systems analysis-she used in her ground-breaking work, and how it can be implemented for large-scale and individual problem solving. With humorous and commonplace examples for difficult concepts such as a “reinforcing feedback loop,” (the more one brother pushes, the more the other brother pushes back), negative feedback (as in thermostats), accounting for delayed response (like in maintaining store inventory), Meadows leads readers through the increasingly complex ways that feedback loops operate to create self-organizing systems, in nature (“from viruses to redwood trees”) and human endeavor. Further, Meadows explicates methods for fixing systems that have gone haywire (“The world’s leaders are correctly fixated on economic growth …but they’re pushing with all their might in the wrong direction”). An invaluable companion piece to Limits to Growth, this is also a useful standalone overview of systems-based problem solving, “a simple book about a complex world” graced by the wisdom of a profound thinker committed to “shaping a better future.”When I read Thinking in Systems I am reminded of the enormity of the gap between systemic thinkers and policy makers. If this book helps narrow the gap, it will be Dana’s greatest contribution.”–Lester Brown, founder and President, Earth Policy Institute”Dana Meadows’ exposition in this book exhibits a degree of clarity and simplicity that can only be attained by one who profoundly and honestly understands the subject at hand–in this case systems modeling. Many thanks to Diana Wright for bringing this extra legacy from Dana to us.”–Herman Daly, Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland at College Park”Reading Thinking in Systems evokes the wisdom and even the voice of Dana Meadows. We are reminded of how she was not only one of the great systems thinkers, but also one of our greatest teachers. This is modestly called a primer, and indeed it is, but unlike most books with that title, this one quickly takes one from the elementary into deep systems thinking about issues as critical today as they were when Dana wrote these words. The discussion of oil use and the interaction of its extraction pattern with economic decision making should be required reading for all energy policy makers and energy company executives (as well as all informed citizens in a democracy). The fisheries case reminds us of how little any government or private actor has done to grasp the importance of takeout flows in determining stocks when the input flows are not within our control. The commentary on economics and, yes the need to consider limits, is a clear systems statement that clarifies a great deal of discussion that goes back to The Limits to Growth.It is remarkable that Dana is able to explain with such clarity such systems concepts of stocks, flows, feedback, time delays, resilience, bounded rationality, and system boundaries and to illustrate each one with multiple informative examples. Her statement that goals that optimize subsystems will sub optimize the functioning of the total system, is truly profound. As the book moves from the ‘mechanics’ of systems dynamics to Dana’s more philosophical perspective, we are treated to her inherent belief in human values that consider the good of all, and how much more effective considering the needs of others is likely to be in solving larger, complex problems. The universe and our society may be very complex and operate in counterintuitive, non-liner fashion, but following the insights of this book and applying them will provide for far more effective solutions to the challenges of a 7 billion person planet than current incremental, linear responses by governments, corporations and individuals.”–Bill Moomaw, Professor of International Environmental Policy at the Fletcher School, Tufts University”In Dana Meadows’s brilliantly integrative worldview, everything causes everything else; cause and effect loop back on themselves. She was the clearest thinker and writer co-creating the art and science of systems dynamics, and Thinking in Systems distills her lifetime of wisdom. This clear, fun-to-read synthesis will help diverse readers everywhere to grasp and harness how our complex world really works.”–Amory B. Lovins, Chairman and Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute”Dana Meadows taught a generation of students, friends, and colleagues the art and science of thinking beyond conventional boundaries. For her systems thinking included the expected things like recognizing patterns, connections, leverage points, feedback loops and also the human qualities of judgment, foresight, and kindness. She was a teacher with insight and heart. This long anticipated book, the distillation of her life’s work, is a gem.”–David Orr, Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics, Oberlin College”The publication of Thinking in Systems is a landmark. To live sustainably on our planet, we must learn to understand human-environment interactions as complex systems marked by the impact of human actions, the prominence of nonlinear change, the importance of initial conditions, and the significance of emergent properties. Dana Meadows’ final contribution is the best and most accessible introduction to this way of thinking we have. This book is destined to shape our understanding of socio-ecological systems in the years to come in much the same way that Silent Spring taught us to understand the nature of ecosystems in the 1960s and 1970s.”–Oran R. Young, Professor, Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at University of California, Santa Barbara”Thinking in Systems is required reading for anyone hoping to run a successful company, community, or country. Learning how to think in systems is now part of change-agent literacy. And this is the best book of its kind.”–Hunter Lovins, founder and President of Natural Capital Solutions and coauthor of Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution”Dana Meadows was one of the smartest people I ever knew, able to figure out the sensible answer to almost any problem. This book explains how she thought, and hence is of immense value to those of us who often wonder what she’d make of some new problem. A classic.”–Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy”An inspiring sequel to Dana Meadows’ lifetime of seminal contributions to systems thinking, this highly accessible book should be read by everyone concerned with the world’s future and how we can make it as good as it possibly can be.”–Peter H. Raven, President, Missouri Botanical Garden”Few matched Dana Meadows remarkable blend of eloquence and clarity in making systems thinking understandable. When Dana began her career, the field was esoteric and academic. Today it is the sine quo non for intelligent action in business and society. The publication of Meadows’ previously unfinished manuscript is a gift for leaders of all sorts and at all levels.”–Peter M. Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline and The Necessary Revolution About the Author A woman whose pioneering work in the 1970s still makes front-page news, Donella Meadows was a scientist, author, teacher, and farmer widely considered ahead of her time. She was one of the world’s foremost systems analysts and lead author of the influential Limits to Growth–the 1972 book on global trends in population, economics, and the environment that was translated into 28 languages and became an international bestseller. That book launched a worldwide debate on the earth’s capacity to withstand constant human development and expansion. Twenty years later, she and co-authors Dennis Meadows and Jorgen Randers reported on their follow-up study in Beyond the Limits and a final revision of their research, Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update, was published in 2004. Read more <div id="

I got this book because we develop systems for patient compliance, the reviews were high and i was eager to learn from such an expert of high acclaim. In fact the book is a superficial collection of high level ideas with little to no added value or insights. The book is a spectacular example of what Feynman called “cargo science”. Do meaningful not just quantifiable. Indeed. The book is also heavily influenced by the author’s environmental agenda which should be disturbing to anyone with an engineering or physics education used to system analysis. Read Bellman’s classic “Adaptive Control Processes – A guided tour” for real thought and insights on systems.

I like the topic. I care a lot about the topic. I work primarily in fields related to this. About 70% of the economic examples in the book are wrong because the ahthor doesn’t understand the system and feedback systems in play. In a book about systems theory, this is mostly inexcusable.

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.

Let me guess — the author probably had 50 pages of really cool, thought-provoking material, but the editor went all, like, ‘you can’t publish a 50-page book, go make it 200 pages’, and as a result, we see things like 3 repetitive examples where 1 would suffice, and then instead of saying ‘and the converse is true’, we spend another paragraph just negating the previous one. And sometimes you do bump into really important concept in all this, so I had to dig through this carefully in order to avoid missing what I came here for.Pro: learned a few new English words.

I’m about half way through, but the content doesn’t seem to be getting much richer. The systems thinking presented in the book so far is fairly basic. If you’ve had good networking and computer systems classes you would have covered most of this material. Also, the author seems to have a leftist political ax to grind with the (pedagogically simplistic) examples she chooses. With her credentials, I would have liked a more neutral and counter-intuitive examples

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.

I wish there was a higher rating of 5 stars. This book so simply and elegantly explains any and every problem, scenario, and reality out there. Once you read and understand it (which is so easy because meadows writes so straightforward and beautifully) you can’t unsee all of the systems traps and levers that are being used in the real world everyday. Life changing read for me I am so glad that I read it for a class of mine.

This is a great book, laid out in very understandable terms for newcomers to systems thinking. It really is a new way of look at the world and can even increase your level of consciousness through getting you to view the bigger picture in all walks of life. You’ll be less judgemental and have a much broader scope with your thinking. I would have loved to have seen more amusing examples of systems throughout, like one explaining the quantity of semen in a porn actors testicles, instead of ones about car dealerships and thermostat systems, as they’re a little dry and dull, but I guess this book needs to appeal to business people.

I had always considered myself to be a system thinker and had read many books on artificial life, chaos theory etc.But until now there was no book that I had read that formed a basis of how systems, in general, tied together. This book provides that glue. It covers a lot of ground and provides solid examples of how system thinking can, quite literally, change the world. It covers areas such as oil production, politics, user of language and drug addiction in ways that are cohesive and informative. It never provides ‘just so stories’ that are unsupported and provide examples of simple systems (from the systems zoo) that explain why often those who influence systems end up pushing the wrong way and making things worse, even though they may have the best of intentions.I have so far recommended this book to five people all from different backgrounds and will be folding in what I have learnt here into my User Experience work.

Wow – I heard this book was good, but its been “unputdownable”..From the perennial problem of managing drug addiction, to climate change and population growth – you name it – you will get an amazing, easy to follow, perspective on the “zoo” of different system types and the systems issues that follows..It helps you see more clerkly why praising/blaming individuals is so problematic and it also explains the “Groundhog Day” of things not getting fixed, even getting worse.. Its necessary for anyone who is really serious in effecting change in the issues of today

A primer to systems thinking indeed! I gave this book 5 stars not just because the contents are incredibly useful, but also because it reads as smoothly as any well written novel. If you are interested in how the world works then you are in the right place. But beware, unlike many others, this book offers no easy solutions. Yet in its description of complexity, its admission of “it’s effing difficult”, its many examples of how easy it is to get it wrong when trying to solve big, complex problems one does not find a sense of despair and futility of effort, no, one finds a sense of empowerment in understanding how “everything relates to everything” which is why it is so so difficult to design workable solutions without the systems view of the problem. Mrs Meadows also does another thing: she manages our expectations. Even with the right tools and a hope that we indeed can successfully intervene in big, complex problems she makes it clear that it won’t be easy, it won’t take only a few weeks, we might not get it right the first three times and we might even make it worse before we improve anything. It’s okay though, because that is how it works. Moving forward is a slow and difficult process, but thanks to Mrs Meadows we might be at least slightly confident that our effort is in the right direction. Go read it.

I recommend Thinking in Systems because it has changed the way I understand and relate to my world. Published after Donella Meadow’s death, it introduces Systems Thinking by way of definition, illustration and application.In Part 1, System Structure and Behaviour, Meadows uses two graphical tools to analyse systems: stock and flow diagrams to show system structure; and charts mapping stock or flow levels over time to explore system behaviour for specific scenarios. The diagrams can be used to display “balancing” (aka “negative”) and “reinforcing” (aka “positive”) feedback loops, and the charts to explore how these might play out.While some of the systems might seem simplistic, they build up understanding of a key Systems Thinking insight, that systems generate their own behaviour. And if you’re ever wondered why the “heroes and villains” style of explanation only works in retrospect, this is a damn good explanation.Chapter two, The Zoo, is a library of common system structures and their behaviour. Those of us from the software world will be reminded of a patterns library. Again, these patterns illustrate a deeper insight, that “systems with similar feedback structures produce similar dynamic behaviors, even if the outward appearance of these systems is completely dissimilar.” (p 51)In Part 2, Systems and Us, Meadows applies Systems Thinking to our world. Many of the examples are dated, but I found myself thinking how applicable these patterns and insights were to topics I was currently encountering – for example, I can’t help thinking she would have loved the way that Kanban reflects a systems learning, that the ability of people and organisations to execute tasks degrades rapidly as the number of tasks rises beyond a critical limit.Of course one natural and urgent interest in systems behaviour is how to change it. If worshipping heroes and lynching villains isn’t going to reform systems that may exhibit non-linear, perverse or self-preserving behaviour, what is?In Part 3, Creating Change in System and in our Philosophy, Meadows gives us a dozen leverage points for changing systems, starting with the simplest and ending with the most powerful. She finishes with a list of “systems wisdoms” – attitudes and values that she and others she respects have adopted to make them more effective at understanding and changing the systems we live in.Like many of the other reviewers, I wish I’d read this book a long time ago. It has its limitations – I’d love to see more recent examples, and can’t help wondering if there are any open-source Systems modelling resources. But for me this is a book of timeless value for anyone interested in a better understanding of their world and their options in it.

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