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This book is about the behavior of systems. Systems are important, for we interact with them all the time, and many of the actions we take are influenced by a system - for example, the system of performance measures in an organization influences, often very strongly, how individuals within that organization behave.
List of contents
Foreword. Preface. PART 1 SYSTEMS. 1 Systems and Mental Models. 2 Links and Dangles. 3 Causal Loop Diagrams. 4 Reinforcing Loops. 5 Balancing Loops. 6 Targets and Budgets. PART 2 APPLICATIONS. 7 Competitive Markets. 8 Controlling Stock Levels. 9 Queues, Angry Customers, Borrowing, Supply and Demand. 10 Prices, Inflation, Economic Depression and Growth. 11 Conflict – and Teamwork. 12 Businesses Are Inherently ‘Joined Up’. 13 Targets and Budgets in Practice. 14 Teachers Behaving Badly. 15 Perverse Incentives and Unintended Consequences. 16 Delivering General Practice. 17 The Climate Crisis. PART 3 OVER TO YOU! 18 How to Draw Causal Loop Diagrams. 19 How to Use Causal Loop Diagrams. Some Good Things to Read and Some Resources Too. Index.
About the author
Dennis Sherwood is currently the managing director of The Silver Bullet Machine Manufacturing Company Limited, specializing in creativity, innovation, and systems thinking.
His previous positions include:
-- Consulting Partner, Deloitte Haskins + Sells, and subsequently Coopers & Lybrand
-- Executive Director, Goldman Sachs
-- Managing Director, UK operations, SRI Consulting (Stanford Research Institute).
He has been using systems thinking since 1984 and is one of the UK’s leading experts.
He is the author of many journal articles, and their modern equivalent, blogs. In addition, he has authored 14 books on a variety of subjects, including systems thinking, creativity, innovation, and financial modelling.
He holds a degree from Cambridge (Natural Sciences, Part II Physics) as well as an MPhil from Yale (Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry) and a Ph.D. from the University of California at San Diego (Biology). He is a Sloan Fellow (with distinction) of London Business School.
Summary
This book is about the behavior of systems. Systems are important, for we interact with them all the time, and many of the actions we take are influenced by a system - for example, the system of performance measures in an organization influences, often very strongly, how individuals within that organization behave.
