202401291411 Thinking in Systems
Donella Meadows lays out a concise, thoughtful, and thorough introduction to systems theory in Thinking in Systems.1
Chapter 1 - The Basics
- 202401291425 Definition of system
- 202401291441 Systems thinking benefits all thought
- 202401291458 The purpose of the parts may not be the purpose of the whole
- 202401291554 All systems thinking is a simplification
- 202308281423 Ship of Theseus
- 202205021252 Stock and flow
- 202110231515 Feedback loop
Chapter 2 - A Brief Visit to the Systems Zoo
- One Stock Systems
- 202402171439 One stock with two competing balancing loops
- 202402171455 Feedback can only affect future behavior
- 202402171507 A stock with one reinforcing loop and one balancing loop
- 202402171512 The principle of shifting dominance
- 202402171520 Ask questions to assess the validity of a model
- 202402241530 One stock with delays
- Two Stock Systems
Chapter 3 - Why Systems Work So Well
- 202402201202 Resilient systems
- 202402241658 Stability and resilience are not the same thing
- 202402201203 Self-organizing systems
- 202402201204 Resilient, self-organizing systems will generate hierarchies
Chapter 4 - Why Systems Surprise Us
- 202402201526 Everything we think we know about reality is a model
- 202402241821 Reality is often nonlinear
- 202402241823 Boundaries don't exist in the real world
- 202402251159 Limiting factor
- 202402251202 Limiting factors can change
- 202402251224 Delays are ubiquitous
- 202402251232 Reality has bounded rationality
Chapter 5 - System Traps... and Opportunities
- 202402251430 Problem-generating systems have to be restructured to be fixed
- 202402251434 Policy-resistant systems
- 202402251449 The tragedy of the commons
- 202402251450 Drift to low performance
- 202402251451 Escalation spiral
- 202402251452 Success to the successful
- 202402251453 Shifting the burden to the intervener
- 202402251454 Rule beating
- 202402251455 Seeking the wrong goal
Chapter 6 - Leverage Points — Places to Intervene in a System
- 202106221146 Leverage
- The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn
- Leverage points to look for
- Numbers — constants and parameters
- Buffers — the sizes of stabilizing stocks relative to their flows
- Stock-and-Flow Structures — physical systems and their nodes of intersection
- Delays — the lengths of time relative to the rates of system change
- Balancing Feedback Loops — the strengths of the feedbacks relative to the impacts they are trying to correct
- Reinforcing Feedback Loops — the strength of the gain of driving loops
- Information Flows — the structure of who does and does not have access to infromation
- Rules — incentives, punishments, constraints
- Self-organization — the power to add, change, or evolve system structure
- Goals — the purpose or function of a system
- Paradigms — the mindset of which the system (its goals, structures, rules, delays, parameters) arises
- Transcending paradigms — remember that 202503301254 The map is not the territory and paradigms are never the full "truth" so we must be willing to ignore paradigms, change them, move between them, or discard them entirely
As systems become complex, their behavior can become surprising. (pp. 147)1
Chapter 7 - Living in a World of Systems
- This chapter is mostly a wrap-up with real-world examples and an exhortation for us to think about systems, their stocks and flows, their network effects, and how we can interact with them more effectively. It reiterates many of the concepts introduced in the rest of the book.
- This would be the chapter to re-read if I wanted a refresher on the book as a whole and how to apply it.
Wrap up
A lot of this book reminded me of The Computational Beauty of Nature and my experience with NetLogo simulations. In particular, there's a lot of systems that have that oscillating, lagging equilibrium of a hunter-prey population system.
- make sure all these notes (including this one) are no longer #new
Links to this note
Linked from this note
- 202106221146 Leverage
- 202110231515 Feedback loop
- 202205021252 Stock and flow
- 202308281423 Ship of Theseus
- 202401291425 Definition of system
- 202401291441 Systems thinking benefits all thought
- 202401291458 The purpose of the parts may not be the purpose of the whole
- 202401291554 All systems thinking is a simplification
- 202402171439 One stock with two competing balancing loops
- 202402171455 Feedback can only affect future behavior
- 202402171507 A stock with one reinforcing loop and one balancing loop
- 202402171512 The principle of shifting dominance
- 202402171520 Ask questions to assess the validity of a model
- 202402201202 Resilient systems
- 202402201203 Self-organizing systems
- 202402201204 Resilient, self-organizing systems will generate hierarchies
- 202402201526 Everything we think we know about reality is a model
- 202402241530 One stock with delays
- 202402241536 A renewable stock constrained by a non-renewable stock
- 202402241545 Physical systems cannot grow infinitely
- 202402241550 A renewable stock constrained by another renewable stock
- 202402241658 Stability and resilience are not the same thing
- 202402241821 Reality is often nonlinear
- 202402241823 Boundaries don't exist in the real world
- 202402251159 Limiting factor
- 202402251202 Limiting factors can change
- 202402251213 Hofstadter's Law
- 202402251224 Delays are ubiquitous
- 202402251232 Reality has bounded rationality
- 202402251430 Problem-generating systems have to be restructured to be fixed
- 202402251434 Policy-resistant systems
- 202402251449 The tragedy of the commons
- 202402251450 Drift to low performance
- 202402251451 Escalation spiral
- 202402251452 Success to the successful
- 202402251453 Shifting the burden to the intervener
- 202402251454 Rule beating
- 202402251455 Seeking the wrong goal
- 202503301254 The map is not the territory