Thinking in Systems

A Primer

By: Donella H. Meadows

Narrated by: Tia Rider Sorensen

In the years following her role as the lead author of the international best seller, 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 listeners 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 listeners 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 listeners 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 listeners avoid confusion and helplessness, the first step toward finding proactive and effective solutions.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2008 Sustainability Institute (P)2018 Chelsea Green Publishing

systems allow us to better understand the world

Very interesting. And it became more captivating with each chapter. I'll recommend it to others.

Good intro but inserts some unnecessary world view

It's a good intro into thinking if systems outside of the mathematical and how to apply it to social and economic applications. The content was very similar to my controls engineering class in college if you stripped out every last bit of math and helped give me another tool to look at issues in the world.

The middle chapters have all the meat. The first chapter reads like an indoctrination or pep rally for the topic and the last chapter gets a little too metaphysical for a book of this type in a way I think is a little misplaced. I don't need to know the author's political or religious views to be able to use the content.

that said it gives you a useful tool to view the world in and does line up with what you would get out of a controls engineering course.

A Discipline for the Modern World

Reading Thinking in Systems was one of those experiences where a general feeling you have had for a long time is suddenly articulated and given full expression. Systems Thinking is an essential way to view the world, discover new truths and fix problems in a world where most issues are complex, cross disciplinary and hard to grapple with. Anyone working in large companies, governments or organizations should read this book to reframe the way they think about their toughest problems.

Excellent Book

The narration is excellent.
The addition of the pdf is a useful reference guide and worth your time to download.
The author is a gifted writer and explains systems thinking better then anyone

It applies beyond the subject.

By the end it had me not only questioning systems within in the universe but how I approach learning them and how I approach situations in life. It made me ask how I could better myself intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically. Strongly recommend.