System Failure: Why Governments Must Learn to Think Differently

by Jake Chapman

103 pages, Paperback

First published May 19, 2004

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book (or "pamphlet" as Chapman calls it) covers the basics of systems thinking for tackling intractable policy problems, particularly in health. It was assigned for a class of mine focused on approaches to solving the shameful problem of maternal mortality, in which we used all of the tools described in it - rich pictures, causal loop diagrams, etc. Systems thinking asks us to abandon linear, command-and-control ways of solving problems, and instead admit things are more complex (and unlikely to be solved with a silver bullet policy solution) than we would like to admit. It also teaches us to try to learn from failure instead of concealing it as an embarrassment. It's the kind of thinking we should all learn to embrace, but those in the policy sector (including its leaders) especially need this approach.

[Riyadhonline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to system thinking.