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A review by cmaats
Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella H. Meadows
5.0
Required reading for any designer, entrepreneur, manager, politician…everyone. I think there are two fundamental disciplines that people need to understand an learn to apply: Design Thinking and Systems Thinking. One to understand the process of problem solving, the other the technique of mapping relationships. Dana Meadows explains the complexity of systems thinking in easy-to-understand terms. Each chapter builds upon the previous one to bring home a sense of the incredible complexity of the world we inhabit and the incredible risks we take when we oversimplify and/or overestimate our understanding of it.
The paradox is that systems thinking provides invaluable tools to map the complex interrelations that give rise to societal, economic and environmental problems, so that we are better equipped to solve these problems effectively -by removing or adding feedback loops using leverage points in the system, for example, in stead of fighting symptoms. On the other hand systems thinking makes us aware of the unfathomable complexity of the world and instills in its users a sense of humility and awe. A sense that the more you know, the more you know what you don’t know. If done with the correct mindset that is. A humble one. Systems thinking requires a ‘beginner’s mind’ to do well. Which interestingly enough links it to Zen buddhism. But that’s another book.
The paradox is that systems thinking provides invaluable tools to map the complex interrelations that give rise to societal, economic and environmental problems, so that we are better equipped to solve these problems effectively -by removing or adding feedback loops using leverage points in the system, for example, in stead of fighting symptoms. On the other hand systems thinking makes us aware of the unfathomable complexity of the world and instills in its users a sense of humility and awe. A sense that the more you know, the more you know what you don’t know. If done with the correct mindset that is. A humble one. Systems thinking requires a ‘beginner’s mind’ to do well. Which interestingly enough links it to Zen buddhism. But that’s another book.