Автор: Joseph O'Connor Название: The Art of Systems Thinking: Essential Skills for Creativity and Problem Solving Издательство: Thorsons Год: 1997 ISBN: 978-0722534427 Язык: English Формат: pdf Размер: 15,8 mb Страниц: 288
Why is this an important book for our time? It is important because of the understanding it can help us develop - understanding why the world we have created has become apparently so complicated, and what to do about it. Over rime we have woven the fabric of our existence ever tighter, and with ever more rapid interactions. And, when we do not understand the complexity we have created, we feel helpless, and become victims of what we do not understand.
Systems thinking is a perspective that we can all relate to, as examples of it can be repeatedly found in our everyday lives. The Art of Systems Thinking enables us to develop an understanding of systems thinking, why it’s so important to us in our daily lives, and how one and all can benefit from the understanding. Once we embrace the complexity we have created, and find the simplicity on the other side, we no longer need be victims, for we can use our understanding to change our actions, and thereby our world.
Foreword ix Acknowledgements xii Introduction xiii
PART ONE - THINKING PAST THE OBVIOUS
1. What is a System? 2 Emergence - whirlpools and rainbows Simple and complex systems The system as a web Stability and leverage Side-effects
2. Thinking in Circles 26 Feedback loops - the essence of systems Reinforcing feedback Balancing feedback Feedforward - back to the future When we do not learn from experience
PART TWO - MAKING MENTAL MAPS
3. Mental Models 62 How we make our mental models Mental models as a system Challenging mental models 4. Cause and Effect 82 Three fallacies The two sides of chaos 5. Beyond Logic 96 Taking time Self-reference and recursion Limiting mental models Mental models as a leverage point
PART THREE - THINKING IN NEW WAYS
6. Learning 118 Learning as a system Generative learning What prevents us learning? 7. Perspectives 139 Inside out or outside in Flat Earth thinking or global thinking The road to hell
PART FOUR - DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
Mapping your intuitions 163 Storytime Running on the spot Limits to natural resources Inner and outer limits Weight control Moving the goal posts Credit and debt Repairing the damage, again and again... When the cure is worse than the disease Life is like a poker game The monopoly pattern The tragedy of the commons
PART FIVE - CLOSING THE CIRCLE
Make connections 221 You never just do one thing Results are not proportional to effort A system works as well as its weakest link Time delays
PART SIX - RESOURCES A brief history of systems thinking 232 Bibliography 241 Resources 244 Glossary 249 Training 256 Index 258 About the Audiors 262
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