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Thinking in Systems

Written by: Donella H. Meadows
Narrated by: Tia Rider Sorensen
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Publisher's Summary

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
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What listeners say about Thinking in Systems

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Very enlightening

I tend to try and control different aspects of my environment. This book helped me understand why I struggle so much doing so. I already developed the intuition that I have to (sometimes) let go and/or approach the situation from another angle. This book made me realize different mistakes I've made in the past.

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Useful

A very interesting lens to add to your toolbox, putting things into a system lens has been very clarifying for our company. The author presents the concepts in a way that is very understandable! Don't be scared by the complex diagrams once you've sat with Donella Meadows' explanation for a while they become useful learning aids. I suggest working through this with at least one other person and applying systems thinking to systems that are not in the book to help grasp the concepts.

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Why haven't I read it earlier?

Systems Thinking is an intense topic, but Donella made it simple and attractive. thanks, Tia for the excellent narration

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I never realized how much I needed this book!

Seriously though, this is such a big deal, it should be tought as widely as possible.

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important book

this book tied together a surprising number of my perception about our society. very helpful.

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Amazing

This is definitely a book to go back to again and again. Well written to make systems thinking easily comprehensible.

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Must read!

Mind altering approaches, easy to understand. Should be in school curriculums if we want a forward thinking society of achievers.

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alright alright alright

very interesting book. served as a great introduction into system theory. the theories appear to offer a broad range of explanatory power in almost any field. however that broad applicability may be viewed as detracting from the potential validity of the theory itself. regardless it's a very interesting listen and if your looking for something to get you thinking outside the box, this book has a good chance of doing just that.

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New Thinking

Old methods which are capable of causing greater change even in the new age.
Practical methods which help with Understanding any system.
This book is an inspiration for me.

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beautiful primer in control systems

very rich and condensed primer for control systems, connecting the feedback control to almost everything.

narrator was so good that I thought it is the writer herself. since she is amazingly transfers the gist of the subject by correct tone and emphasis.

I guess I will read this book more than once.

This can be a good book for any professional and managers too even if they are not familiar with feedback control loops.

I recommend this audiobook to any engineering student to read this as an introduction to any modern control course before their course starts.

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