Thinking in Systems Buchzusammenfassung - das Wichtigste aus Thinking in Systems

Einleitung anhören

00:00

Zusammenfassung von Thinking in Systems

Name: Thinking in Systems
Rating: 4.3 (213 reviews)
Author: Donella H. Meadows

Donella H. Meadows

A Primer

4.3 (213 Bewertungen)

17 Min.

Themen

Culture

Inhaltsübersicht

Thinking in Systems
in 8 Kernaussagen verstehen

Audio & Text in der Blinkist App

Kernaussage 1 von 8

What’s in it for me? Become a systems expert.

You probably already know that your body is a system. Your blood is rushing about your veins because of your pumping heart, your kidneys remove waste from your blood, your lungs enable you to breathe and so on. In other words: your body consists of various organs held together by their respective relationships, serving the purpose of keeping you going.

But how about a soccer team? A company? Are they systems too? Of course! Systems are everywhere – though some are more obvious than others.

These blinks take you on a journey into the world of systems. They’ll explain what systems are, where to find them, and how they work and sustain themselves.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why feedback is key to systems;
how a system can be corrupt; and
why you shouldn’t expect that putting 20 pounds of fertilizer on your field will yield four bushels of wheat just because ten pounds of fertilizer yielded two bushels.

A system is a group of connected elements with a shared purpose.

Have you ever paused and tried to identify the different systems around you? If you did, you’d quickly notice that they’re just about everywhere – from your body to your favorite football team to the company you work for and the city you live in.

That’s because a system is simply a group of elements, connected by relationships and paired with a purpose. These elements can be visible and physical, but they can also be intangible. For instance, while you can both see and touch the roots, branches and leaves of a tree, things like academic prowess in a university are more amorphous.

But whether they’re physical or not, all elements of a system are held together by relationships. For instance, in the system of a tree, the relationships connecting the elements are metabolic processes and chemical reactions. In the system of a university they might be standards for admission, examinations and grades.

And the purpose of a system?

That’s defined by the system’s observed behavior, not its stated goals. For instance, a government might say that it has a goal of environmental protection, but not put its money where its mouth is. Therefore, environmental protection is not the government’s purpose as it isn’t reflected by what it actually does.

It’s important to know that the relationships and purpose of a system will always determine it, even if its elements change. A football team might acquire an entirely new roster, but its relationships between positions and unified purpose of winning games are the same.

Furthermore, the behavior of a system breaks down into stocks and flows, which change over time.

Here’s how they each work.

Stocks are the elements of a system that can be accounted for at any given time. For instance, water in a bathtub, books in a store or money in a bank. On the other hand, flow is the change in stock over time as a result of inflows, which add, and outflows, which subtract. Examples of these are births and deaths or purchases and sales.

Every sustainable system relies on some kind of feedback for stabilization.

So, now you know about the stocks and flows of a system, but it’s essential also to understand that they’re constantly changing. That’s because when changes in stock affect the inflows and outflows of a system it’s considered to have a feedback.

What’s more, there are different forms of feedback. If a force stabilizes the difference between the actual and desired levels of stock then it’s known as a balancing feedback. Such a feedback is a chain of rules or physical laws that relate to the level of stock and have the ability to change it.

Well-functioning systems are resilient, self-organized and hierarchical.

Have you ever wondered why certain systems, like well-running machines or the world’s ecosystems, function so seamlessly? Well, resilience is a major determining factor in a system’s ability to adapt to changing conditions.

That’s because resilience is a system’s elasticity, or how well it recovers from a transition. The resilience of any given system is a product of its structure as well as its feedbacks, which work in different ways, directions and on varying time scales. Take the human body. It can protect itself from invading forces, tolerate a wide range of temperatures, adapt to changes in its food supply, reallocate blood and even repair bones.

Understanding some common mistakes will help you investigate systems more productively.

Systems that we know well can seem transparent, but we’ll end up misconstruing them if we focus too much on their outputs and not enough on their real behavior – or the way they each function over time. The problem is, since a system’s outputs are its most visible aspect, we often simplify systems into a series of events. It’s easy for us to only pay attention to games won and lost, or the percentage of the Amazon that has been deforested.

So, imagine you’re watching a football game in which both teams are evenly matched, but one team is playing exceptionally well. When they win the game, the result will be less surprising to you than to someone who only sees the final score or output.

Corrupt systems are produced by disproportionate power and can enable overuse.

So, all systems share common features, but some of them can produce extremely unnatural and even problematic behavior. This can happen when the individual subsystems each have a different goal, and it’s called policy resistance.

Here’s how it works.

Systems can be physically adjusted to improve efficiency.

You’re probably thinking it would be great to have a way to make systems produce more of the good and less of the bad. Well, you’re in luck. That’s because by changing buffers, system design and delays, we can produce more effective systems.

How?

Systems can be made even more efficient by adjusting their internal mechanisms and rules.

So, changing the physical elements of a system can improve it, but there are other ways to fix problems. One is to focus on the flow of information, the rules of the system and its self-organization.

Systems often lack sufficient information flows. As a result, adding them can make significant improvements. For instance, installing electrical meters in hallways instead of basements reduced energy consumption by one-third in some Dutch suburbs simply because residents had access to information about their use and could adjust how much power they used accordingly.

Paying attention to the inner workings of systems will help you better understand the world.

At this point you probably understand that systems can’t be controlled and are only comprehensible in the most general sense.

The good news: there are some simple steps that will help you better navigate the world of systems and increase their efficiency. First, it’s helpful to observe how a system behaves by learning its history and collecting information. The world is loaded with misconceptions, and the more data we have, the better judgments we can make. For example, while you might think prices are going up, they could just as well be going down.

Du möchtest die gesamte Zusammenfassung von Thinking in Systems sehen?

Kernaussagen in Thinking in Systems

Mehr Wissen in weniger Zeit

Sachbücher auf den Punkt gebracht

Kernaussagen aus Sachbüchern in ca. 15 Minuten pro Titel lesen & anhören mit den „Blinks”

Zeitsparende Empfehlungen

Titel, die dein Leben bereichern, passend zu deinen Interessen und Zielen

Podcasts in Kurzform ^Neu

Kernaussagen wichtiger Podcasts im Kurzformat mit den neuen „Shortcasts”

Worum geht es in Thinking in Systems?

Thinking in Systems (2008) is an introduction to systems thinking. These blinks will teach you how to see the world in terms of interconnected networks while detailing how different elements, relationships and goals make any given structure run.

Bestes Zitat aus Thinking in Systems

Life is not an illogicality; yet it is a trap for logicians. It looks just a little more mathematical and regular than it is.

—Donella H. Meadows

Wer Thinking in Systems lesen sollte

Anyone interested in how systems function
People who want to improve their problem-solving skills in everything from personal issues to global trade

Über den Autor

Donella Meadows was an environmental scientist, author and teacher who was widely considered to be ahead of her time. During her lifetime, she was one of the most important systems analysts on earth and a recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Grant. Meadows died in 2001.

Kategorien mit Thinking in Systems

Economics Science

Ähnlich wie Thinking in Systems

The Pyramid Principle

Barbara Minto

Logic in Writing and Thinking

18 min

4.3

Team of Teams

General Stanley McChrystal with Tantum Collins

New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

20 min

4.4

Never Split the Difference (New Version)

Chris Voss and Tahl Raz

Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It

From Speeches to Job Interviews to Deal-Closing Pitches, How to Guarantee a Standing Ovation for All the Performances in Your Life

17 min

4.0

The Goal

Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox

A Process of Ongoing Improvement

What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know

21 min

4.1

Emotional Intelligence

How to Be a Power Connector

Judy Robinett

The 5+50+100 Rule for Turning Your Business Network into Profits

A Clear Guide to Complexity Theory

The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less

14 min

4.3

AI 2041

Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan

Ten Visions for Our Future

30 min

4.2

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

Eric Jorgenson

A Guide to Wealth and Happiness

How the Modern World Was Made

Tools for Smart Thinking

The stoic thinking of a Philosopher-King

The Biohacker's Guide to Getting the Body and Mind You Want

20 min

3.8

Super Thinking

Gabriel Weinberg with Lauren McCann

The Big Book of Mental Models

A Simple Plan to Stop People-Pleasing, Reclaim Your Boundaries, and Say Yes to the Life You Want

16 min

4.2

The Great Mental Models Volume 3

Rhiannon Beaubien and Rosie Leizrowice

Systems and Mathematics

The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication

John C. Maxwell

Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

Improve your life by only focusing on the essentials

20 min

4.5

The Great Mental Models Volume 2

Shane Parrish and Rhiannon Beaubien

Physics, Chemistry and Biology

23 min

4.1

7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness

Jim Rohn

Power Ideas from America's Foremost Business Philosopher

20 min

4.4

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

Mark Manson

A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

The Bulletproof Plan to Age Backward and Maybe Even Live Forever

24 min

4.2

Good Strategy, Bad Strategy

Richard Rumelt

The Difference and Why It Matters

21 min

4.2

Innovation in Real Places

Dan Breznitz

Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World

And Other Dangerous Situations

366 Meditations on Power, Seduction, Mastery, Strategy, and Human Nature

An uncommon guide to rapid fat-loss, incredible sex and becoming superhuman

19 min

3.3

The Surrender Experiment

Michael A. Singer

My Journey into Life’s Perfection

How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead

20 min

4.5

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (New Version)

John C. Maxwell

Follow Them and People Will Follow You

20 min

4.5

How to Take Smart Notes

Sönke Ahrens

One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers

18 min

4.4

Rewired

Eric Lamarre & Kate Smaje & Rodney Zemmel

The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI

Why It's Not Always Rational to Be Rational

18 min

4.3

How to Day Trade for a Living

The Official Unrepentant, Ass-Kicking, No-Kidding, Change-Your-Life Sidekick to Unfu*k Yourself

12 min

4.3

The Imperfectionists

Robert McLean and Charles Conn

Strategic Mindsets for Uncertain Times

23 min

4.5

Millennial Money

Patrick O’Shaughnessy

How Young Investors Can Build a Fortune

Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists

Cybersecurity Advice from the Best Hackers in the World

15 min

3.8

The Effective Executive

Peter F. Drucker

The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done

A New Technique for Using Your Subconscious Power

How to Think and Act Like the Most Successful and Highest-Paid People in Every Field

12 Ways to Accelerate Growth for an Agile Business

16 min

4.3

The Body Keeps the Score

Bessel van der Kolk

Mind, Brain and the Body in the Transformation of Trauma

How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, & Security in Technology Organizations

17 min

4.0

The New Strategist

Günter Müller-Stewens

Shape Your Organization and Stay Ahead of Change

24 min

4.1

❤️ für Blinkist️️️

Ines S.

Ich bin begeistert. Ich liebe Bücher aber durch zwei kleine Kinder komme ich einfach nicht zum Lesen. Und ja, viele Bücher haben viel bla bla und die Quintessenz ist eigentlich ein Bruchteil.

Genau dafür ist Blinkist total genial! Es wird auf das Wesentliche reduziert, die Blinks sind gut verständlich, gut zusammengefasst und auch hörbar! Das ist super. 80 Euro für ein ganzes Jahr klingt viel, aber dafür unbegrenzt Zugriff auf 3000 Bücher. Und dieses Wissen und die Zeitersparnis ist unbezahlbar.

Ekaterina S.

Extrem empfehlenswert. Statt sinnlos im Facebook zu scrollen höre ich jetzt täglich zwischen 3-4 "Bücher". Bei manchen wird schnelle klar, dass der Kauf unnötig ist, da schon das wichtigste zusammen gefasst wurde..bei anderen macht es Lust doch das Buch selbständig zu lesen. Wirklich toll

Nils S.

Einer der besten, bequemsten und sinnvollsten Apps die auf ein Handy gehören. Jeden morgen 15-20 Minuten für die eigene Weiterbildung/Entwicklung oder Wissen.

Julia P.

Viele tolle Bücher, auf deren Kernaussagen reduziert- präzise und ansprechend zusammengefasst. Endlich habe ich das Gefühl, Zeit für Bücher zu finden, für die ich sonst keine Zeit habe.