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Think In Systems: The Theory and Practice of Strategic Planning, Problem Solving, and Creating Lasting Results - Complexity Made Simple
We have the best of intentions to improve our conditions, but often our solutions fall short of improving our lives. Sometimes our best efforts can result in the opposite of what we want over time. How can we avoid these unwanted results?
If we apply conventional thinking to complex issues, we often maintain or increase the very problems we want to fix. There is, however, a solution to get the desired results.
Think in Systems is a concise information manual offering high-level problem-solving methods for personal and global issues. The book presents the main features of systems thinking in an understandable and everyday manner, helping you to develop this skill top analysts and world leaders use.
If you thought that complex thinking is only for people who deal with complex issues like running a company or country, think again. Every issue is complex. Running out of gas is a simple problem, but I’m sure you’re dealing with much greater headaches on a daily basis.
Your life is a system. Everything that is connected to your system (life) is a part of it. However, you are just a subsystem in the larger picture. Your town, country, the world, the solar system are all bigger systems you are a part of. These systems are interconnected. Whatever you do will affect the system and whatever the system does will affect your life.
Systems can have positive and negative effect on your life – or on the life of people generally. The greatest problems like hunger, war, and poverty are all failures in the system. Similarly, fights with your loved ones, being stuck in a rut at your job are also system failures. They are not only your fault. Thus they can’t be fixed with a simple cause-effect thinking.
Learn to use systems thinking in your business, relationships, friendships, and general political, socio-economic, and environmental issues.
Systems thinking boosts your critical thinking skills, makes you more logical, enhances your analytical abilities, and makes you more creative.
Systems thinking won’t put extra pressure on your cognition. Quite the contrary, you’ll have fewer headaches knowing that you surely didn’t miss any detail when you tried to solve a problem.
•Learn the main aspects, concepts, and models of systems thinking.
• Design models and systems maps to solve your problems
•Find solutions to your underlying problems, not just the symptoms
• Improve your mental health, wealth, and relationships
Systems thinking is a relatively new discipline which doesn’t get the exposure it deserves. However, our world grows more connected, interdependent and complex with each passing day. Becoming a systems thinker will help you to overcome your confusion and fear of missing the whole picture, and help you find more effective solutions to your personal (and if you are up to it), global problems.
•Widen your understanding of international economic, political, and socio-economic affairs
• Manage your business better
•The most helpful materials, books, and experts to learn even more about systems thinking
Identify your problems more accurately. Find solutions to your problems, don’t just treat the symptoms. Map out a strategic action plan to change your circumstances. Become more patient by understanding the world – and your place in it – better. Shift your focus from the unimportant details and focus on the real issues. Stay a learner.
If we apply conventional thinking to complex issues, we often maintain or increase the very problems we want to fix. There is, however, a solution to get the desired results.
Think in Systems is a concise information manual offering high-level problem-solving methods for personal and global issues. The book presents the main features of systems thinking in an understandable and everyday manner, helping you to develop this skill top analysts and world leaders use.
If you thought that complex thinking is only for people who deal with complex issues like running a company or country, think again. Every issue is complex. Running out of gas is a simple problem, but I’m sure you’re dealing with much greater headaches on a daily basis.
Your life is a system. Everything that is connected to your system (life) is a part of it. However, you are just a subsystem in the larger picture. Your town, country, the world, the solar system are all bigger systems you are a part of. These systems are interconnected. Whatever you do will affect the system and whatever the system does will affect your life.
Systems can have positive and negative effect on your life – or on the life of people generally. The greatest problems like hunger, war, and poverty are all failures in the system. Similarly, fights with your loved ones, being stuck in a rut at your job are also system failures. They are not only your fault. Thus they can’t be fixed with a simple cause-effect thinking.
Learn to use systems thinking in your business, relationships, friendships, and general political, socio-economic, and environmental issues.
Systems thinking boosts your critical thinking skills, makes you more logical, enhances your analytical abilities, and makes you more creative.
Systems thinking won’t put extra pressure on your cognition. Quite the contrary, you’ll have fewer headaches knowing that you surely didn’t miss any detail when you tried to solve a problem.
•Learn the main aspects, concepts, and models of systems thinking.
• Design models and systems maps to solve your problems
•Find solutions to your underlying problems, not just the symptoms
• Improve your mental health, wealth, and relationships
Systems thinking is a relatively new discipline which doesn’t get the exposure it deserves. However, our world grows more connected, interdependent and complex with each passing day. Becoming a systems thinker will help you to overcome your confusion and fear of missing the whole picture, and help you find more effective solutions to your personal (and if you are up to it), global problems.
•Widen your understanding of international economic, political, and socio-economic affairs
• Manage your business better
•The most helpful materials, books, and experts to learn even more about systems thinking
Identify your problems more accurately. Find solutions to your problems, don’t just treat the symptoms. Map out a strategic action plan to change your circumstances. Become more patient by understanding the world – and your place in it – better. Shift your focus from the unimportant details and focus on the real issues. Stay a learner.
125 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 21, 2018
604 people are currently reading
579 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 23, 2020
A basic book in the topic. Good entry and easy read. If you are comfortable in feedback loops, commission and omission errors, emergence, purposes, and constraints this might be too basic for the system’s manager. I mistakenly purchased and the price was cheap. A good read before taking a course. A lessor read if you have already invested some time on more in depth books.
December 13, 2018
I got this as a supplemental text for some of the other reading I’m doing in systems theory.
It’s simple and accessible and functioned perfectly well for this purpose.
Solid 4 stars.
It’s simple and accessible and functioned perfectly well for this purpose.
Solid 4 stars.
June 13, 2018
Not much value here.
This is the cartoon version, or the feelings version of systems thinking. Some bad graphics, typos and grammatical errors don’t help. I’m not sure who the target audience is. Perhaps sixth graders.
This is the cartoon version, or the feelings version of systems thinking. Some bad graphics, typos and grammatical errors don’t help. I’m not sure who the target audience is. Perhaps sixth graders.
August 25, 2025
Unimpressed by both the content and form of this book. The writing is shallow and redundant. The writer is rather condescending. Overall, a disappointment.
August 30, 2018
Who edited this?
Some good information as introduction, but the author’s voice is just bizarre. More careful editing could have made this book much shorter and more focused.
Some good information as introduction, but the author’s voice is just bizarre. More careful editing could have made this book much shorter and more focused.
April 2, 2022
I feel ok about the content. I wasn't able to get a since of the epistemology of this framework, other than sorta a common sensical notion. I'm interested in reading more about it, but certain qualities of the book give me pause.
The citations aren't super diverse (thesystemsthinker.com makes up a sizable portion) and many of the cited works are fairly lightweight blog posts, have to poke around on the sites to find better material. Makes me wonder about the foundations of the ideas presented.
Perhaps a bit unfair, but it does undermine my confidence.
There were also some instances of really terrible formatting. One of the figures in my edition occludes text on the same page (possibly the caption).
Overall. It's an alright introduction, but repetitive and some concerning flaws.
The citations aren't super diverse (thesystemsthinker.com makes up a sizable portion) and many of the cited works are fairly lightweight blog posts, have to poke around on the sites to find better material. Makes me wonder about the foundations of the ideas presented.
Perhaps a bit unfair, but it does undermine my confidence.
There were also some instances of really terrible formatting. One of the figures in my edition occludes text on the same page (possibly the caption).
Overall. It's an alright introduction, but repetitive and some concerning flaws.
June 15, 2025
A great introduction
TLDR: worst case, you learn to think more holistically. Best case, you learn a new way to learn.
This book will not make you a master of systems-based thinking, but it's a great place to start. The ideas and concepts are well developed and provide a good foundation while inspiring ideas of where to go next. It also helped me see how systems-based thinking will serve me in reaching my future business goals by learning systems i already know about and new systems I'll encounter on the way.
TLDR: worst case, you learn to think more holistically. Best case, you learn a new way to learn.
This book will not make you a master of systems-based thinking, but it's a great place to start. The ideas and concepts are well developed and provide a good foundation while inspiring ideas of where to go next. It also helped me see how systems-based thinking will serve me in reaching my future business goals by learning systems i already know about and new systems I'll encounter on the way.
July 25, 2018
The concept itself (Systems Thinking) is very important in our daily life and in business and Corporate Strategic planning.
The book sheds a light on how to think differently towards things and view them in systems with very useful examples from multiple categories which serve as a good and Rich introduction to the topic.
The book sheds a light on how to think differently towards things and view them in systems with very useful examples from multiple categories which serve as a good and Rich introduction to the topic.
February 27, 2020
Probably a great primer on System theory but it was too elementary for my needs. I also wasn't a big fan of McKey's style. In particular I didn't care for her constant assurances that what she was presenting wasn't complicated, since it really wasn't and her examples often where not right (e.g. Einstein's relationship to quantum mechanics
August 8, 2020
Good introduction to System thinking, do not expect anything very enlightening. Zoe McKey does a great job at giving you a good panoramic view and a starting point to set this thinking in the back of your head. Worth a quick read.
September 27, 2025
It helped me put personal and professional scenarios in third perspective. I enjoyed reading the book and I’m planning on picking up a more technical book in systems thinking soon. Thank you for the read!
November 5, 2020
A good introduction to the theory of systems thinking. A good book for the beginners.
December 7, 2024
Was a little too broad to be of value to any person trying to approach systems thinking
June 16, 2019
Enjoyable listen whilst running. I thought the narrator talked a little too fast, I prefer a bit slower so it's easier whilst running.
Liked the topic. Its always a challenge sometimes when in busines to docuemtn/ create your systems whihc tend to be linear when systems thinking is so much more than just linear thinking.
So being reminded of thinking about multiple subsystems I found rather refreshing and of course vindicating my own thoughts about our so-called systems in the company!
Liked the topic. Its always a challenge sometimes when in busines to docuemtn/ create your systems whihc tend to be linear when systems thinking is so much more than just linear thinking.
So being reminded of thinking about multiple subsystems I found rather refreshing and of course vindicating my own thoughts about our so-called systems in the company!
February 25, 2020
Solve difficult systemic problems using Systems Thinking
Ever had a problem that was beyond words and difficult to describe?
Zoe used practical examples and techniques to deconstruct difficult problems like homelessness. misappropriation of funds in a multifaceted political system.
The book was a short read as an introduction to this subject of System Thinking but she provides resources and citations to learn more about the topic.
Ever had a problem that was beyond words and difficult to describe?
Zoe used practical examples and techniques to deconstruct difficult problems like homelessness. misappropriation of funds in a multifaceted political system.
The book was a short read as an introduction to this subject of System Thinking but she provides resources and citations to learn more about the topic.
January 28, 2020
Do not waste your time with this book. The factual errors and pretense that a change of framing represents a fundamental change in thinking are accompanied by simplistic writing that MIGHT be appropriate for high-school-level readers.
Read
March 29, 2020A grain of salt
When I commenced teading I had hoped gain with clear points on systems thinking that I could apply in life and work. Hard fast rules were not laid out in the book. Dispite not being hand held through applying system discovery I enjoyed the book.
When I commenced teading I had hoped gain with clear points on systems thinking that I could apply in life and work. Hard fast rules were not laid out in the book. Dispite not being hand held through applying system discovery I enjoyed the book.
June 12, 2020
This book teaches you how to see things from a broader perspective, i.e. as a system, identify the different elements it's influenced by and what can you do to change them.
The books contains multiple examples on how to think in systems.
Very valuable skill imo.
The books contains multiple examples on how to think in systems.
Very valuable skill imo.
December 31, 2019
Very basic introduction to Systems Thinking. Enjoyable, but left longing to go deeper.
October 3, 2022
The author appeared to have googled their way through the content and wrote to meet a word quota. Very basic overview of systems thinking.
October 8, 2022
A basic introduction to systems thinking.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews