[PDF] Think In Systems eBook

Author : Donella Meadows
Publisher : Chelsea Green Publishing
Page : 242 pages
File Size : 42,21 MB
Release : 2008-12-03
Category : Science
ISBN : 1603581480

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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.

Author : David Peter Stroh
Publisher : Chelsea Green Publishing
Page : 266 pages
File Size : 37,37 MB
Release : 2015-09-24
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1603585818

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"David Stroh has produced an elegant and cogent guide to what works. Research with early learners is showing that children are natural systems thinkers. This book will help to resuscitate these intuitive capabilities and strengthen them in the fire of facing our toughest problems."—Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline Concrete guidance on how to incorporate systems thinking in problem solving, decision making, and strategic planning—for everyone! Donors, leaders of nonprofits, and public policy makers usually have the best of intentions to serve society and improve social conditions. But often their solutions fall far short of what they want to accomplish and what is truly needed. Moreover, the answers they propose and fund often produce the opposite of what they want over time. We end up with temporary shelters that increase homelessness, drug busts that increase drug-related crime, or food aid that increases starvation. How do these unintended consequences come about and how can we avoid them? By applying conventional thinking to complex social problems, we often perpetuate the very problems we try so hard to solve, but it is possible to think differently, and get different results. Systems Thinking for Social Change enables readers to contribute more effectively to society by helping them understand what systems thinking is and why it is so important in their work. It also gives concrete guidance on how to incorporate systems thinking in problem solving, decision making, and strategic planning without becoming a technical expert. Systems thinking leader David Stroh walks readers through techniques he has used to help people improve their efforts on complex problems like: ending homelessness improving public health strengthening education designing a system for early childhood development protecting child welfare developing rural economies facilitating the reentry of formerly incarcerated people into society resolving identity-based conflicts and more! The result is a highly readable, effective guide to understanding systems and using that knowledge to get the results you want.

Author : Zoe McKey
Publisher :
Page : 266 pages
File Size : 11,54 MB
Release : 2019-11-21
Category :
ISBN : 9781710322002

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Get out of that rut. Find long-term solution to your problems. We have the best of intentions to improve our conditions, but often our solutions fall short of improving our lives. Our best efforts can result in the opposite of what we want over time. If we apply conventional thinking to complex issues, we often maintain or feed the very problems we want to fix. How to avoid this trap? I will tell you in this book.Think in Systems is a concise information manual offering high-level, strategic problem solving methods for personal and global issues. The book presents the main features of systems thinking in an understandable, everyday manner, helping you to develop the skill top analysts and world leaders use. Your life is a system. Everything that is connected to your system (life) is a part of it. Your town, country, the world, the solar system are all bigger systems you are a part of. These systems are interconnected. Whatever you do will affect the system and whatever the system does will affect your life. Systems can have positive and negative effect on your life - or on life of people generally. The greatest problems like hunger, war, and poverty are all failures in the system. Similarly, fights with your loved ones, being stuck in a rut at your job are also system failures. They are not only your fault. But they can't be fixed with cause-effect thinking. Systems thinking boosts your critical thinking skills, makes you more logical, enhances your analytical abilities, and makes you more creative. "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." Albert Einstein-Learn the main aspects, concepts, and models of systems thinking.-Design models and systems maps to solve your problems-Find solutions to your underlying problems, not just the symptoms-Improve your mental health, wealth, and connectionsLearn to use systems thinking in your business, relationships, friendships, and general political, socio-economic, and environmental issues. -Widen your understanding about international economic, political, and socio-economic affairs-Manage your business better -The most helpful materials, books, and experts to learn even more about systems thinking.-Map out a strategic action plan to change your circumstances. Become more patient by understanding the world - and your place in it - better. -Shift your focus from the unimportant details and focus on the real issues. -Stay a learner. Learn to use systems thinking in your problem solving, decision making, and strategic planning practices today.

Author : Steven Schuster
Publisher : Vdz
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 30,21 MB
Release : 2019-08-17
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781951385224

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Would you like to have better solutions to your problems? Struggling to understand why things went wrong when you did everything right? The Art Of Thinking In Systems can help you with these problems. You think systems thinking is for politicians, and big company CEO's? Let me tell you this: a small business is a system, your class at school is a system, your family is a system. You are the element of larger systems - your town, your country, the world. These systems have a different dynamic. The more you know about their nature, the more optimal solutions you'll find to problems related to them. Systems thinking helps you see beyond simple connections, and find strategic solutions considering every actor influencing your problem. The Art Of Thinking In Systems presents the fundamental system archetypes, models, and methods with an application to real life. Know how to use systems thinking at work, in your business, in your relationship, friendships. The book also helps you to see through the hidden pathways of contemporary politics, economics, and education changes. Systems thinking opens new and exciting ways to re-invigorate your world view. It enriches your critical thinking skill, analyzing ability, clears your vision, makes you more logical and rational - just to mention a few benefits. Systems thinking's aim is not to overcomplicate your thoughts but to find better solutions to your problems. Some things in life can't be fixed with a simple "you did this so I did that" thinking. By applying conventional thinking to complex problems, we often perpetuate the very problems we try so hard to solve. Learn to think differently to get different results. -Learn about the main elements of systems thinking. -How to apply the best systems thinking ideas, models, and frameworks in your life? -What are the biggest system errors, how to detect and fix them? -How can you improve your romantic relationship with systems thinking? Over the past decades, systems thinking gained an eloquent position in science and research. Complexity, organizational pathways, networks gained more importance in our interconnected world. Just like wars are not fought with two armies standing in opposite of each other on an opened field, the answers to personal problems are more compounded, as well. -Improve your social life understanding the systemic aspects of social networks. -Useful tips how to fix financial fallouts in your business. -See through the systems of health care, education, politics, and global economics. The Art Of Thinking In Systems presents global systems theory with real life examples making it easily understandable and applicable. This book is not for Wall Street analysts but for everyday people who wish to understand their world better and make better decisions in their lives. You will be able to define your problems more accurately, design solutions more correctly, put together strategic plans, and understand the world - and your place in it - in its chaotic complexity.

Author : Jamshid Gharajedaghi
Publisher : Butterworth-Heinemann
Page : 357 pages
File Size : 33,29 MB
Release : 2006
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0750679735

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Annotation In a global market economy, a viable business cannot be locked into a single form or function anymore. Rather, success is contingent upon a self-renewing capacity to spontaneously create structures, functions, and processes responsive to a fluctuating business landscape. Now in its third edition, Systems Thinking synthesizes systems theory and interactive design, providing an operational methodology for defining problems and designing solutions in an environment increasingly characterized by chaos and complexity. The current edition has been updated to include all new chapters on self-organizing systems, Holistic, Operational, and Design thinking. Gharajedaghi covers recent crises in financial systems and job markets, the housing bubble, and environment, assessing their impact on systems thinking. A companion website to accompany the book is available at www.interactdesign.com. Four NEW chapters on self-organizing systems, holistic thinking, operational thinking, and design thinking Covers the recent crises in financial systems and job markets globally, the housing bubble, and the environment, assessing their impact on systems thinking Companion website to accompany the book is available at interactdesign.com

Author : Linda Booth Sweeney
Publisher : Chelsea Green Publishing
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 36,89 MB
Release : 2010
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1603582584

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DVD contains videos illustrating good practice in introducing and running 30 games.

Author : David Peter Stroh
Publisher : Chelsea Green Publishing
Page : 266 pages
File Size : 26,23 MB
Release : 2015
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 160358580X

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Donors, leaders of nonprofits, and public policy makers usually have the best of intentions to serve society and improve social conditions. But often their solutions fall far short of what they want to accomplish and what is truly needed. Moreover, the answers they propose and fund often produce the opposite of what they want over time. We end up with temporary shelters that increase homelessness, drug busts that increase drug-related crime, or food aid that increases starvation. How do these unintended consequences come about and how can we avoid them? By applying conventional thinking to complex social problems, we often perpetuate the very problems we try so hard to solve, but it is possible to think differently, and get different results. Systems Thinking for Social Change enables readers to contribute more effectively to society by helping them understand what systems thinking is and why it is so important in their work. It also gives concrete guidance on how to incorporate systems thinking in problem solving, decision making, and strategic planning without becoming a technical expert. Systems thinking leader David Stroh walks readers through techniques he has used to help people improve their efforts to end homelessness, improve public health, strengthen education, design a system for early childhood development, protect child welfare, develop rural economies, facilitate the reentry of formerly incarcerated people into society, resolve identity-based conflicts, and more. The result is a highly readable, effective guide to understanding systems and using that knowledge to get the results you want.

Author : Magnus Ramage
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 319 pages
File Size : 35,11 MB
Release : 2020-02-19
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1447174755

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This book presents a biographical history of the field of systems thinking, by examining the life and work of thirty of its major thinkers. It discusses each thinker’s key contributions, the way this contribution was expressed in practice and the relationship between their life and ideas. This discussion is supported by an extract from the thinker’s own writing, to give a flavour of their work and to give readers a sense of which thinkers are most relevant to their own interests.

Author : édérique Vallières
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 417 pages
File Size : 50,10 MB
Release : 2022-10-20
Category :
ISBN : 0198799497

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How can systems-thinking contribute to solving key challenges in Global Health? Global Health is an evolving field operating within a complex interaction of political, environmental, economic, and socio-cultural factors. Any work on the subject needs to reflect current developments and be supported by a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that retains a focus on the underpinning determinants of health. This book reflects the importance of applying a systems-thinking approach to Global Health challenges: one that examines both the individual elements within the system as well as the interrelationships between them and wider contextual patterns. Bringing together a global and multidisciplinary team of experts, this volume outlines the core concepts of a systems-thinking approach and how they can be applied to current Global Health problems. It provides a comprehensive range of case studies, reflections, conceptual pieces, and methodological approaches. Readers are invited to engage with arguments and assumptions across global health interventions and to connect systems-thinking theory with lived experiences. Well-established topics such as infectious and non-communicable diseases, as well as lesser-discussed areas such as still birth, mental health, and war and conflict are united under a shared systems-thinking framework. Offering innovative perspectives on current health challenges, students, academics, practitioners, and policy makers will find this a significant resource to enhance their understanding and application of systems-thinking in Global Health.