Detailed Contents
A Note from the Author
A Note from the Editor
Introduction: The Systems Lens
Part One: System Structure and Behavior
ONE — The Basics
- More than the Sum of Its Parts
- Look Beyond the Players to the Rules of the Game
- Bathtubs 101 — Understanding System Behavior over Time
- How the System Runs Itself — Feedback
- Stabilizing Loops — Balancing Feedback
- Runaway Loops — Reinforcing Feedback
TWO — A Brief Visit to the Systems Zoo
- One-Stock Systems
- A Stock with Two Competing Balancing Loops — a Thermostat
- A Stock with One Reinforcing Loop and One Balancing Loop — Population and Industrial Economy
- A System with Delays — Business Inventory
- Two-Stock Systems
- A Renewable Stock Constrained by a Nonrenewable Stock — an Oil Economy
- A Renewable Stock Constrained by A Renewable Stock — a Fishing Economy
Part Two: Systems and Us
THREE — Why Systems Work So Well
- Resilience
- Self-Organization
- Hierarchy
FOUR — Why Systems Surprise Us
- Beguiling Events
- Linear Minds in a Nonlinear World
- Nonexistent Boundaries
- Layers of Limits
- Ubiquitous Delays
- Bounded Rationality
FIVE — System Traps … and Opportunities
- Policy Resistance — Fixes that Fail
- The Tragedy of the Commons
- Drift to Low Performance
- Escalation
- Success to the Successful — Competitive Exclusion
- Shifting the Burden to the Intervener — Addiction
- Rule-Beating
- Seeking the Wrong Goal
Part Three: Creating Change—in Systems and in Our Philosophy
SIX — Leverage Points — Places to Intervene in a System
- 12. Numbers—Constants and parameters such as subsidies, taxes, standard
- 11. Buffers—The sizes of stabilizing stocks relative to their flows
- 10. Stock-and-Flow Structures—Physical systems and their nodes of intersection
- 9. Delays—The lengths of time relative to the rate of system changes
- 8. Balancing Feedback Loops—The strength of the feedbacks relative to the impacts they are trying to correct
- 7. Reinforcing Feedback Loops—The strength of the gain of driving loops
- 6. Information Flows—The structure of who does and does not have access to information
- 5. Rules—Incentives, punishments, constraint
- 4. Self-Organization—The power to add, change, or evolve system structure
- 3. Goals—The purpose or function of the system
- 2. Paradigms—The mind-set out of which the system — its goals, structure, rules, delays, parameters — arises
- 1. Transcending Paradigms
SEVEN —Living in a World of Systems
- Get the Beat of the System
- Expose your Mental Models to the Light of Day
- Honor, Respect, and Distribute Information
- Use Language with Care and Enrich It with Systems Concepts
- Pay Attention to What is Important, Not Just What is Quantifiable
- Make Feedback Policies for Feedback Systems
- Go for the Good of the Whole
- Listen to the Wisdom of the System
- Locate Responsibility in the System
- Stay humble—Stay a Learner
- Celebrate Complexity
- Expand Time Horizons
- Defy the Disciplines
- Expand the Boundary of Caring
- Don't Erode the Goal of Goodness
Appendix
System Definitions: A Glossary
Summary of Systems Principles
- Systems
- Stocks, Flows, and Dynamic Equilibrium
- Feedback Loops
- Shifting Dominance, Delays, and Oscillations
- Scenarios and Testing Models
- Constraints on Systems
- Resilience, Self-Organization, and Hierarchy
- Source of System Surprises
- Mindsets and Models
Springing the System Traps
Places to Intervene in a System
Guidelines for Living in a World of Systems
Model Equations
Notes
Bibliography of Systems Resources
- Systems Thinking and Modeling
- Systems Thinking and Business
- Systems Thinking and Environment
- Systems Thinking, Society, and Social Change
Editor’s Acknowledgments
About the Author
Index
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