
Thinking in Systems
A Primer
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Narrated by:
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Tia Rider Sorensen
About this listen
In the years following her role as the lead author of the international best seller, Limits to Growth - the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet - Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001.
Thinking in Systems is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem-solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute's Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world, showing listeners how to develop the systems-thinking skills that thought leaders across the globe consider critical for 21st-century life.
Some of the biggest problems facing the world - war, hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation - are essentially system failures. They cannot be solved by fixing one piece in isolation from the others, because even seemingly minor details have enormous power to undermine the best efforts of too-narrow thinking.
While listeners will learn the conceptual tools and methods of systems thinking, the heart of the book is grander than methodology. Donella Meadows was known as much for nurturing positive outcomes as she was for delving into the science behind global dilemmas. She reminds listeners to pay attention to what is important, not just what is quantifiable, to stay humble, and to stay a learner.
In a world growing ever more complicated, crowded, and interdependent, Thinking in Systems helps listeners avoid confusion and helplessness, the first step toward finding proactive and effective solutions.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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As anyone in business knows, strategic planning is critical to achieving long-term success. In How to Be a Power Connector, super-networker Judy Robinett argues that strategic relationship planning should be your top priority.
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Highly Recommended
- By jsw on 11-04-14
By: Judy Robinett
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Steal the Show
- From Speeches to Job Interviews to Deal-Closing Pitches, How to Guarantee a Standing Ovation for All the Performances in Your Life
- By: Michael Port
- Narrated by: Michael Port
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Every day there are moments when you must persuade, inform, and motivate others effectively. Each of those moments requires you, in some way, to play a role, to heighten the impact of your words, and to manage your emotions and nerves. Every interaction is a performance, whether you're speaking up in a meeting, pitching a client, or walking into a job interview.
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More self-absorbed than authentic
- By Oliver Nielsen on 12-09-15
By: Michael Port
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Pensar en sistemas [Thinking in Systems]
- Un manual de iniacion [A Primer]
- By: Donella H. Meadows
- Narrated by: Aressi Suástegui
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Pensar en sistemas, es un libro conciso y crucial que ofrece información para la resolución de problemas en escalas que van desde lo personal hasta lo global.
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Es voz Sintética No Humana
- By Diego Martin Perez on 02-01-25
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The Great Mental Models
- General Thinking Concepts
- By: Shane Parrish
- Narrated by: Shane Parrish
- Length: 3 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts is the first book in The Great Mental Models series designed to upgrade your thinking with the best, most useful and powerful tools so you always have the right one on hand. This volume details nine of the most versatile all-purpose mental models you can use right away to improve your decision making, your productivity, and how clearly you see the world.
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A dissapointing debut
- By Peter on 04-14-19
By: Shane Parrish
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Algorithms to Live By
- The Computer Science of Human Decisions
- By: Brian Christian, Tom Griffiths
- Narrated by: Brian Christian
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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From finding a spouse to finding a parking spot, from organizing one's inbox to understanding the workings of human memory, Algorithms to Live By transforms the wisdom of computer science into strategies for human living.
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Great listen, just don't expect tips!
- By Adam Hosman on 08-07-17
By: Brian Christian, and others
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Complexity
- A Guided Tour
- By: Melanie Mitchell
- Narrated by: Kathleen Godwin
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In this remarkably clear and companionable audiobook, leading complex systems scientist Melanie Mitchell provides an intimate tour of the sciences of complexity, a broad set of efforts that seek to explain how large-scale complex, organized, and adaptive behavior can emerge from simple interactions among myriad individuals.
By: Melanie Mitchell
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Systems Thinking and Chaos
- Simple Scientific Analysis on How Chaos and Unpredictability Shape Our World (And How to Find Order in It)
- By: Albert Rutherford
- Narrated by: Russell Newton
- Length: 2 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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We can encounter chaos in every system around us - even the smallest and simplest ones. Any system can fall into chaos, which prevents us to accurately predict its behavior. Even a small change in the initial conditions can lead to unexpectedly large-scale consequences. Therefore, we can often enter in panic, blame actors for events they are not responsible for, and our sense of security in the world can generally decrease.
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Head and shoulders above other recent short titles
- By Philo on 06-18-20
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The Systems Thinker
- Essential Thinking Skills for Solving Problems, Managing Chaos, and Creating Lasting Solutions in a Complex World
- By: Albert Rutherford
- Narrated by: Russell Newton
- Length: 4 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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The Systems Thinker will help you to implement systems thinking at your workplace, human relations, and everyday thinking habits. Boost your observation and analytical skills to find the real triggers and influencing forces behind contemporary politics, economics, health, and education changes.
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Don't buy this.
- By Anonymous User on 12-18-18
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The Staff Engineer's Path
- A Guide for Individual Contributors Navigating Growth and Change
- By: Tanya Reilly
- Narrated by: Wendy Tremont King
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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For years, companies have rewarded their most effective engineers with management positions. But treating management as the default path for an engineer with leadership ability doesn't serve the industry well—or the engineer. The staff engineer's path allows engineers to contribute at a high level as role models, driving big projects, determining technical strategy, and raising everyone's skills. This in-depth book shows you how to understand your role, manage your time, master strategic thinking, and set the standard for technical work.
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Not for all engineers
- By Dan H on 05-27-24
By: Tanya Reilly
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The Road Less Stupid
- By: Keith J. Cunningham
- Narrated by: Keith J. Cunningham
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Years ago, after suffering a humiliatingly large dumb tax, it dawned on me that I have a seemingly unlimited ability to hit unforced errors and sabotage my business and financial success. I suspect you do, too. It turns out that the key to getting rich (and staying that way) is to avoid doing stupid things. I don't need to do more smart things. I just need to make fewer dumb mistakes. The vast majority of our dumb tax is a direct result of emotional, overly optimistic, and poorly thought out decisions.
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Couldn't finish it
- By Paul on 08-04-18
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Complexity
- The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos
- By: M. Mitchell Waldrop
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In a rarified world of scientific research, a revolution has been brewing. Its activists are not anarchists, but rather Nobel Laureates in physics and economics and pony-tailed graduates, mathematicians, and computer scientists from all over the world. They have formed an iconoclastic think-tank and their radical idea is to create a new science: complexity. They want to know how a primordial soup of simple molecules managed to turn itself into the first living cell--and what the origin of life some four billion years ago can tell us about the process of technological innovation today.
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You won't learn anything you didn't know
- By Dennis E. Alwine on 12-26-20
What listeners say about Thinking in Systems
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- Sultan M.
- 07-30-19
A paradigm shifting read
It’ll change the way you think about pretty much everything you know about yourself, the world, and everything in between.
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- nick
- 01-30-19
brilliant intro into this topic
Was not sure what to expect but was pleasantly suprised by the depth width and humanity of the coverage of this fascinating topic
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- G. Roukas
- 08-18-20
One of the most inspiring and used for books I’ve ever read
I’ve been playing around with the concept of system dynamics for years, and I had a feeling if there was something much more to it than what I’ve seen. Reading this book has given me a glimpse into what system dynamics could mean for me open my business and personal life. It’s filled with real world examples of how seeing the world in terms of systems rather than simple objects can totally change your perspective and give you insights into lasting, positive change. It’s a lot to take in all at once, so I plan to give it a rest for a few months and then reread it. I have a feeling it will be one of the books I return to many times in the future.
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- Rosy Roseman
- 10-28-21
An absolutely fantastic systems introduction
varied examples, not too jargon heavy, prescient, and necessary, an absolute must read for anyone working with systems from 'the system' to a car to a group of friends
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- M
- 06-06-22
A masterpiece
This book now sits atop my “most compelling books” list, yet I’ll need to read it about a dozen more times to glean most of the insights presented so beautifully. If you are a human, or any conscious mortal being for that matter, you must read this book.
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- Aaron
- 03-21-23
Excellent book
I’m really impressed by the research presented in this book. The content is high quality and provides many interesting points to consider. I only listened to it once and feel as though I’ve only scratched the surface of what thinking in systems is all about. This is a must read for intellectual thinkers.
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- Michael
- 08-03-23
Excellent, clear, practical
This is the first book I have read on systems thinking. I am broadly familiar with the principles of systems thinking. However this primer has given me more of a grounding than I expected. I could relate to everything she said as it is written in a clear, accessible way. Narration is excellent as well. I highly recommend this primer.
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-03-23
The Hidden Logic of Cautionary Takes
The greatest thing the book does is going beyond diagraming and theory and apply system thinking to most of our current global challenges, putting clear examples to feedback loops, leverage points, paradigms and more.
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- stay@homemom3
- 01-29-25
Opens the mind up!
I loved this book, it really expands the way you see things and shows you that so many things are connected! If you are trying to think more mathematically this book will help especially if you are a layman that has found a new interest in maths.
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- Michael C.
- 03-23-25
Good overview on systems thinking.
Remove the political bias and demonization of view’s you disagree with and it would be leagues better.
Overall, this is a good overview of systems thinking. The author shows their cards as an academic at times with political leanings but the learning around how things work and correlate is still there.
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