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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
informative
slow-paced
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
The book is split into three sections: a primer on systems and their behaviour, systems and us, and using systems to create change.
The first section was exceptionally dry and academic, which was, at times, difficult to get through, especially when I didn’t have a specific system in mind to analyse. As a result, I’d only recommend this section if you have no understanding on different systems, their components and their behaviour, and want one before moving ahead, but, if I reread the book, I would skip this entirely, and only use it when analysing a specific system, skipping to the relevant part. Though, it is very informative.
The second and third sections were both much lighter, more enjoyable and extremely informative. The insights I’ve gained have gifted me with a deeper understanding of the problems we face as a society, detached from dogmatic ideologies, and significant insights into leverage points for invoking change in systems of all sizes.
I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand how systems function—which is essentially almost everything—and particularly those who want to invoke change in their own lives and the world at large.
The first section was exceptionally dry and academic, which was, at times, difficult to get through, especially when I didn’t have a specific system in mind to analyse. As a result, I’d only recommend this section if you have no understanding on different systems, their components and their behaviour, and want one before moving ahead, but, if I reread the book, I would skip this entirely, and only use it when analysing a specific system, skipping to the relevant part. Though, it is very informative.
The second and third sections were both much lighter, more enjoyable and extremely informative. The insights I’ve gained have gifted me with a deeper understanding of the problems we face as a society, detached from dogmatic ideologies, and significant insights into leverage points for invoking change in systems of all sizes.
I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand how systems function—which is essentially almost everything—and particularly those who want to invoke change in their own lives and the world at large.
Incredibly bad.
Simplistic. Sanctimonious. Pseudo-profound. Almost no technical content.
Reads more like a Buzzfeed listicle than a primer. "10 Ways Systems Theory Can Fix Capitalism and Improve Your Sex Life."
NOTES:
"I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when looked at in the right way did not become still more complicated." - Poul Anderson
When a system tries to return to a set point, this is called "homing behaviour".
Doubling time equals approximately 70 divided by the percentage growth rate. When I plotted it, it looks like this approximation gets more accurate as you get closer to zero growth. For large values it seems to undershoot by 0.4. I'm surprised by how accurate this is. The derivation isn't given in this book, but we can get it with a Taylor expansion of ln(x) around 1: ln(2)/ln(x/100+1) ~= ln(2)/(x/100) = 100*ln(2)/x ~= 69/x. The heuristic should be given as 69/x, not 70/x. Much more memorable.
"To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering." - Aldo Leopold
"It's one thing to know how to fix a system, and quite another to wade in and fix it." - Donella Meadows
Simplistic. Sanctimonious. Pseudo-profound. Almost no technical content.
Reads more like a Buzzfeed listicle than a primer. "10 Ways Systems Theory Can Fix Capitalism and Improve Your Sex Life."
NOTES:
"I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when looked at in the right way did not become still more complicated." - Poul Anderson
When a system tries to return to a set point, this is called "homing behaviour".
Doubling time equals approximately 70 divided by the percentage growth rate. When I plotted it, it looks like this approximation gets more accurate as you get closer to zero growth. For large values it seems to undershoot by 0.4. I'm surprised by how accurate this is. The derivation isn't given in this book, but we can get it with a Taylor expansion of ln(x) around 1: ln(2)/ln(x/100+1) ~= ln(2)/(x/100) = 100*ln(2)/x ~= 69/x. The heuristic should be given as 69/x, not 70/x. Much more memorable.
"To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering." - Aldo Leopold
"It's one thing to know how to fix a system, and quite another to wade in and fix it." - Donella Meadows
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
What a joy to read. I listened to a summarised version a few years back, and wow, that was no substitute for reading this book.
Systems are interconnected things, with flows between elements, feedback loops, and controls. Systems thinking is a way to model them: economies, ecosystems, our bodies, shop inventory, thermostats. Time, and delays between elements, being a key part. The behaviour of systems can be surprising and complex.
So a technical book, yes, but so human. “Systems thinking has taught me to trust my intuition more and my figuring-out rationality less, to lean on both as much as I can, but still to be prepared for surprises. Working with systems, on the computer, in nature, among people, in organisations, constantly reminds me of how incomplete my mental models are, how complex the world is, and how much I don’t know.”
Systems are interconnected things, with flows between elements, feedback loops, and controls. Systems thinking is a way to model them: economies, ecosystems, our bodies, shop inventory, thermostats. Time, and delays between elements, being a key part. The behaviour of systems can be surprising and complex.
So a technical book, yes, but so human. “Systems thinking has taught me to trust my intuition more and my figuring-out rationality less, to lean on both as much as I can, but still to be prepared for surprises. Working with systems, on the computer, in nature, among people, in organisations, constantly reminds me of how incomplete my mental models are, how complex the world is, and how much I don’t know.”