The greatest gift one can get from a book is not new knowledge, but a new way of thinking. That’s exactly what Thinking in Systems aims to do. It is an accessible introduction to the field of systems dynamics, the study of how the interaction between individual units (be they cells, people, production lines) can lead to complex behaviour:
A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something. [...] A system is more than the sum of its parts. It may exhibit adaptive, dynamic, goal-seeking, self-preserving, and sometimes evolutionary behavior.
The chapter on systems traps was particularly fascinating - there are common problems that occur in completely different systems by virtue of the system structure (rather than the actions of certain units within the system). The very existence of these systems traps means that we as a society must be exceedingly careful in how we allocate blame – too often, an individual or group is blamed for what is really a flaw in the system. On paper, the objective of systems dynamicists is somewhat grandiose (particularly the suggestions of using systems to understand human emotions), but Meadows shows a deep intellectual humility, recognising that great care is needed in both system design and system analysis.
You think that because you understand “one” that you must therefore understand “two” because one and one make two. But you forget that you must also understand “and.” – Sufi saying
Thinking in Systems is a must-read, for it contains the potential to help you understand the world on a more meta level – developing an appreciation for the systems that underpin the seemingly ineffable dynamics of the society, the environment, the economy – and the meta-meta-epistemological level of how we might reason about these systems.
God grant us the serenity to exercise our bounded rationality freely in the systems that are structured appropriately, the courage to restructure the systems that aren’t, and the wisdom to know the difference!