For systems thinking

With an unpublished foreword by Dennis Meadows A concise and crucial book, Thinking Systems offers insight into problem solving at scales ranging from personal to global. Written by Donella Meadows between 1972 and 1993 and published in 2008 by the Sustainability Institute, this book extracts systems thinking from the field of computing and mathematics to make it tangible and concrete. Indeed, some of the greatest problems facing the world - war, hunger, poverty and environmental degradation - are essentially due to system failures. They cannot be solved by worrying about one piece in isolation from the others, because even seemingly minor details have the power to undermine the best efforts of too narrow, “siloed” thinking. On the contrary, it is a question of taking into account the totality of the facts of a complex system, as integral parts of a whole whose different components are in a relationship of interdependence. Using simple examples, and not without humor, Donella Meadows makes accessible concepts as complex as " feedback loop " or " dynamic balance ". But while she introduces the tools of systems thinking, including ways to fix dysfunctional systems, she also reminds the reader to pay attention to what's important, not just what's quantifiable, to stay humble, and to keep going. learn. In an increasingly complicated and interdependent world, Thinking Systems helps to avoid confusion and helplessness, the first step towards finding proactive and effective solutions. Afterwords by Bruno Lhoste and Baptiste Perrissin-Fabert Translated from English (United States) by Marianne Bouvier A classic finally translated into French: after The Limits to Growth (in a finite world), Donella Meadows introduces us to systems thinking. An essential tool to meet the many current environmental, political, economic and social challenges.