The Elements of Thinking in Systems: Use Systems Archetypes to Understand, Manage, and Fix Complex Problems and Make Smarter Decisions

by Albert Rutherford

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 Systems Thinking 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 book will help you to find strategic solutions to every complex, modern problem. The Elements of Systems Thinking 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, 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 Systems Thinking 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.

Genres: Psychology, Business, Science, Leadership, Personal Development, Nonfiction

270 pages, Paperback

Published January 22, 2019

Reviews

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books starts at a 2 out of 5 (horribly technical and vague--like a bad college paper) and slowly grows to a 4 out of 5 ending. The explanations on what systems are is the worst part of the book. Read other books for that. Frankly, read blogs and articles to learn that. But the last 1/2 of the book is when he talks through some "archetypes" that is wonderful. He could have gone deeper and talked about how to think systematically about fixing them, but the very naming of them and describing various ways they show up in life and work is really helpful for lifting our thinking to the systems level.

[John Hearn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is neither detailed enough to be useful nor interesting enough to be enjoyable. It does little more than cover the basics and the examples, although good, are too few.

[Geoffrey Hagberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

What is it: an introduction to systems thinking, with particular focus on systems archetypes.

Why I think it's just ok: This book's focus on systems archetypes is it's selling point, though it doesn't foreground that at all. The latter half of the book covers common archetypes at a depth I didn't find in either of the other books on systems thinking I read this year, including Meadows' Thinking in Systems.

Despite that depth of insight into systems archetypes, this book is also self-published and sorely suffers from a lack of copy-editing. At least the printed edition I picked up had significant formatting issues, typos throughout, and a general lack of structural polish that all ended up significantly distracting from the content it was presenting.

Try this instead: honestly, you're probably fine to stick with Thinking in Systems for info on archetypes. Or, try Systems Thinking for Social Change to skip the archetypes theory and dive straight into understanding archetypes in real systems.

[Amy Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Traonah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book attempts to explain the elements of systems (as mentioned in the title). But, it's not written in an accessible manner.

If you are a novice on systems or have a mild curiosity, this is not the book for you.
However, you might find it manageable or insightful if you are steeped in academia.

Note: The last chapter of the book should have been the first. It's a much softer and more coherent introduction to the concepts expressed. With that said, I can't believe I read it to the very end.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an easy read, but it provides a useful way (read - set of principles and a set of mental models or archetypes) to understand and attack complex problems characterized by multiple variables and interactions. Helps not only in analysis (breaking down complex issues or systems into single parts or sub-systems), but also to see the bigger or more strategic picture.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very helpful in illustrating system archtypes and how to figure our way out of those negative archetypes. I do look forward to seeing how I can implement this both in my professional life and personal life.

[Johanna Elsener · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple and illustrative introduction. Inspired to look at problems in a holistic way.