​Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows explains how systems thinking can help us better understand and change the systems in our lives.

As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

What is a system?

• Systems are things where the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
• There are three essential components: Elements, Interconnections and a Purpose/Function.
• In the real world, systems don’t have clear boundaries because almost everything is connected. For models to be useful, however, we need to draw boundaries.

Stocks and flows:

• Flows are the material or information going in and out of an element.
• A stock is the history of accumulated flows over time.

Feedback loops:

• Balancing feedback loops adjust flows so as to keep stocks within a certain range.
• Reinforcing feedback loops amplify flows, leading to exponential growth or collapse over time.
• Resilient systems have multiple feedback loops and some degree of redundancy.
• Delays in a feedback loop can lead to complexity and oscillations, making it hard to predict a system’s behaviour over time.
• Complex systems may involve hierarchies of different subsystems, with feedback loops operating a different levels.

Before intervening in a system, we should try to understand it:

• Everything we think we know about the world is merely a model of reality.
• Understanding systems will likely require interdisciplinary thinking.
• Some common unintuitive features include: non-linearities, causation, limiting factors, and bounded rationality.
• Common system archetypes include: policy resistance; tragedy of the commons; drift to low performance; rich get richer and others.

Even when we understand a system, we may not be able to control it or predict its behaviour.

• There’s a gap between knowing and doing.
• Systems naturally tend to be resistant to change.
• We’ll never fully understand systems — but we can redesign and learn from them.

You can find the full detailed summary for Thinking in Systems as well as my thoughts on it right here. If you found this summary useful, consider forwarding to a friend you think might enjoy it.

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To Summarise

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