Systems Thinking: Coping with 21st Century Problems

by John T. Boardman, Brian Sauser

By examining the links and interactions between elements of a system, systems thinking is becoming increasingly relevant when dealing with global challenges, from terrorism to energy to healthcare. Addressing these seemingly intractable systems problems in our society, Systems Thinking: Coping with 21st Century Problems focuses on the inherent opportunities and difficulties of a systems approach. Taking an engineering systems view toward systems thinking, the authors place a high value on the thinking process and the things applied to this process.

In the hopes of initiating critical thinking and encouraging a systems response to problems, the book provides pragmatic mechanisms to understand and address co-evolving systems problems and solutions. It uses several contemporary and complex societal issues, such as the Iraq war, the Google phenomenon, and the C2 Constellation, to illustrate the concepts, methods, and tools of a system as well as the meaning of "togetherness" in a system. The text also interweaves the meanings of "complexity," "paradox," and "system" to promote the improvement of difficult situations.

Featuring a holistic, nonlinear way of looking at systems, this book helps readers better organize and structure their thinking of systems in order to solve complex, real-world problems.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 17, 2008

Reviews

[Stefaan Van ryssen]

Absolutely the best book on Systems since Von Bertalanffy and Checkland. Lots of very surprising illustrations, relevant and challenging.
Impossible to summarize. Start with the four basic elements: AND, OR, NOT and PARADOX and you will be captivated by the depth of the problem-solving systems thinking in practice. Then study the Conceptagon: dialectics in practice. Study it and continue studying it. The rest of the book is very interesting but everything follows from the basics and the concepts.
(Actually, the Conceptagon is a series of conceptual triplets such as Inside/outside ==> boundary.)

One irritating thing. The authors appear to think it is necessary to thank their god for whatever. I wonder which one (they never say so) and why. It is contradictory to their intellectual stance. When people postulate gods, that is a temporary solution for a systemic problem.