Thinking in Systems: A Primer

Donella Meadows, main author of 1972's The Limits to Growth, explains how to use systems thinking—understanding that systems are groups of interacting things producing behavior patterns—to identify root causes, see opportunities, and make better decisions in this international bestseller with over half a million copies sold. The book teaches essential concepts including stocks and flows (elements accountable at any given time), feedback loops (connections dictating system behavior range), and leverage points (where minor alterations effect substantial change). Edited posthumously by Diana Wright and published in 2008, it brings systems thinking into the tangible world as critical skills for 21st-century life.

6 sections · 24 lessons

Course outline

System Fundamentals

  1. System Definition
  2. System Components
  3. System Fundamentals

Stocks and Flows

  1. Stocks
  2. Flows
  3. Stocks and Flows

Feedback Loops

  1. Balancing Loops
  2. Reinforcing Loops
  3. Delays
  4. Feedback Loops

System Properties

  1. Bounded Rationality
  2. Resilience
  3. Self-Organization
  4. Hierarchy
  5. Nonlinearity
  6. System Properties

Common System Traps

  1. Policy Resistance
  2. Commons Tragedy
  3. Drift
  4. Escalation
  5. Success Spiral
  6. Shifting the Burden
  7. Common System Traps

Creating Change

  1. Parameters
  2. Information & Rules
  3. Goals & Paradigms
  4. Observe First
  5. Boundaries
  6. Complexity
  7. Creating Change

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