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The Elements of Thinking in Systems

Use Systems Archetypes to Understand, Manage, and Fix Complex Problems and Make Smarter Decisions

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The Elements of Thinking in Systems

De: Albert Rutherford
Narrado por: Russell Newton
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Would you like to have better solutions to your problems? Struggling to understand why things went wrong when you did everything right? The Elements of Thinking in Systems can help you with these problems.

Systems surround us, and we might not even be aware of it. Your household is a system. The bakery on the corner is a system. Your class at school, your department at work, and your weekend soccer team made of wholehearted dads is a system, too. You are a vital part of more complex systems like your country, the economy, or the world; learn about their changing nature and find optimal solutions to problems related to them.

The world is more connected than ever thanks to innovations like telephone, television, computers, and internet. The way we sense reality changed significantly. Using conventional thinking to understand the world as it functions today is not enough. We need to know the elements of systems thinking to see beyond simple cause-effect connections. This audiobook will help you to find strategic solutions to every complex modern problem.

The Elements of Thinking in Systems focuses on the nine fundamental system archetypes; our mental models related to them and the step-by-step implication methods to fix them. Learn to use systems archetypes to solve your problems at work, in your business, in your relationship, and social connections.

See through the motivations and understand the drives of contemporary politics, economics, and education. Widen your perspective, think critically, analyze deeply, clear your vision, and be more logical and rational just by applying systems thinking.

Think differently and get different results.

  • Learn the language of systems thinking.
  • Apply the best systems-thinking ideas, models, and frameworks in your cognitive and decision-making process.
  • Learn to understand, design, and find solutions to the main system problems, called "archetypes".

Complexity, organizational pathways, and networks gain more and more importance in our interconnected world. The Elements of Thinking in Systems gives you real-life examples to make the adoption process of this type of thinking smooth.

Define your problems more accurately, find better, long-lasting solutions to your problems, learn to create strategic plans using systems diagrams, and understand your place and power over the world.

©2019 Albert Rutherford (P)2019 Albert Rutherford Ciencia System Architecture
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Great introduction to systems thinking. Download the diagrams before listening as they will help understand the concepts that are presented.

Great introduction to systems thinking

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There was something about this book that I didn't quite like. I'm not sure if it's because this book is covering a complex topic, or if it's because I just didn't care for the way the information was laid out. I usually like books of this nature to provide a high level overview of the topic followed by details for each component. I didn't really feel like I got that here.

Aside from that, though, this book was great. The topic covers so many aspects of life that I'd expect everyone to take something different away from the book. My take away was that when failures occur, you should look at the system that created that error. That is, you should look at the big picture, see how all of the elements are connected, and identify the root cause of a problem in order to fix it long-term. We shouldn't look for individual people to blame, and we shouldn't even look at individual elements if we want a long-term fix.

While I'm tempted to expand on this, the book does a much better job explaining it all. I highly recommend it.

The audiobook's narration was smooth and consistent. I was able to comfortably listen to it at 2.5x speed and catch every word.

Don't hate the player, hate (and fix) the game

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This is a good listen. A PDF of the drawings would make it outstanding. Learned several new ideas through this book.

Excellent information

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"The Elements of Thinking in Systems" is an accessible introduction to systems thinking. This is to say, this book will challenge linear thinking (a causes b) and help the reader or listener to consider the relationship of other variables as well as unintended consequences.

The book is structured around nine archetypes. This include Fixes that Backfire, Shifting the Burden, Limits to Success, Tragedy of the Commons and so on. Each archetype is defined and examples are provided. For example, "Fixes that Backfire" occurs when in an effort to fix present problems, short-term solutions are implemented which have harmful long-term effects. An example of this might be medication to dull physical pain, rather than addressing the root issue. The author further illustrates the point with a hypothetical company and the well-intended but ultimately disastrous fixes to improve sales numbers.

As a manager in a non-profit organization, I learned some new ways of thinking through challenges that we face. One of the strengths of the book is the broad ranging applications. Rather than focus on business applications, the author includes examples from marriage and family, public administration, and international relations, and others.

The book is an easy listen, and it is narrated well. I listened to it over the course of three days to get an overview of the material. However I would suggest that it is best absorbed when the listener can give full attention and look at the associated diagrams while listening to the book. The book is easy for me to recommend as an introduction, and afterwards you may be interested to go further in your studies and look for additional resources to work through the different archetypes in the situations you face. I had hoped that the author would have included short summaries or offered a process by which to think through or apply the archetypes, but that would have made for a much longer book.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Introduction to System Archetypes

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Thia audiobook contains useful strategies to identify and solve problems. I found my self, while a listened, applying it easily to my every day life. It helped with questions like; How can I make my side business more successful and cope with growth? How to prepare for a new job interview? And, What is causing me to repeat the same mistakes? The Narrator is a great fit for this type of audiobook. His delivery was perfect for conveying complex information and kept mind focused on what was being said. I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook and think it will help me in my future endeavors.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Best Ways to Approach and Solve a Problem

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Okay, so this is a good intro to the subject, and yet it’s not a touchy feely fun way of approaching life. I don’t deny that there are a few pearls of wisdom in these methods, but even the more analytical among us don’t live our day to day lives in accordance with the actions taught in MBA business analysis courses, but rather more in line with "complexity theory". In practice, most people just aren’t going to be able to convince others to speak in the vocabulary of this book, and the skills it teaches will be the occasional “secret sauce” you’ll avail yourself of here and there, mostly instinctual rather than analytically.

Furthermore, as evidenced by a few of the examples given, the methods in this book don’t yield solutions that are free from bias unless you’re aware of your biases. They don’t yield order unless you appreciate the role chaos plays in priming creativity, and how variables fall in line in a slave/master relationship such that one variable tends to pull the others in line - and it's not always the one we'd consider most optimal using the methods in this book.

So in all I think that while this has value, it’s a bit too ivory tower for "rough" project management tasks like construction, but it may work for tech or financial sectors. This isn’t to say it doesn’t sum up the subject well, it does. Rather it’s not likely to be nearly enough without experience, critical thinking, awareness of bias and creativity and this book doesn’t really get into this enough.

I received this book for free in exchange for my non-biased review.

Don’t discuss this on a date

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I have read other systems books and this one is up there with the best. His descriptions and case studies are a big help in understanding the different systems
Well worth it as a go to reference and understanding

Excellent book

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Full disclosure: I’ve received a complimentary copy of this audiobook to review it to the most honest assessment I can give.

This is a difficult topic but it is explained fairly simple from so wider audiences wouldn’t have any issue following it. Though some examples were confusing and had me going back time and time again in order to fully understand them.

I guess one of the flaws I can find is the narrator, I find his voice not suited for this type of heavyweight field of knowledge. Maybe I’m wrong but it made the experience not that great for me and even had to plan around doing some chores so it would not knock me out asleep.

I think about purchasing the kindle edition since this is better for consulting this type of information than going back and forward with the audible app.

UPDATE: Did upgrade it with a kindle edition, and the way it is explained on the book makes it easier to understand some of the topics. I'm sorry but the narrator didn't deliver it for me.

A great go to guide for Systemic thinking

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I've read many of the books mentioned as references in this audiobook. Overall, the presentation is excellent. The content is an introduction to the basic concepts of systems thinking. Occasionally it gets a little confusing, but in most of these instances I needed a diagram in front of me to truly understand what the author was talking about. If you are interested in learning about systems thinking, take a listen. If you've already read a bit on the topic, I would suggest finding a more technical text to expand your horizons.

Basic primer for systems thinking

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The content of this book is very accessible to a beginner and provides insights into different models and ways of thinking about systems. It's been a couple of weeks since I listened, and I find my mind going back to reference some of the models when approaching problems in my consultancy role. Pros Simple examples used to illustrate the models Wide range of systems described. Online pages of diagrams to support the book Cons Its harder to reference the online diagrams while listening than it would be in a printed version. I found I had to create bookmarks and rewind and re listen to get the most out of them I wonder if the author could add the diagrams URL to the details. so it can be found without trying to scan through the audio of the introduction ( or make the URL it's own mini chapter so it can be located easily)

Interesting models to help focus you thinking.

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