Peter Checkland | Solving Problems with Soft Systems Methodology
Have you ever tried to solve a problem at work or school, but realized that everyone involved had a different idea of what the "problem"…
Russell Ackoff | Systems Approach to Modern Management
Many leaders try to fix their companies by looking at the pieces. They think that if they make the marketing department perfect and the accounting…
Posted inSystem Dynamics Systems Thinkers
Peter Senge | Using System Dynamics to Build Learning Organization
Following the foundational work of Jay W. Forrester and the global application by Donella Meadows, Peter Senge became the figure most responsible for bringing Systems…
Posted inSystem Dynamics Systems Thinkers
Donella Meadows | Limits to Growth,Leverage Points & Sustainability
Donella Meadows (1941–2001) was arguably the most famous and influential student of System Dynamics founder Jay W. Forrester. While Forrester developed the technical tools, Meadows…
Posted inGeneral Systems Theory Systems Thinkers
Howard T. Odum | Mapping the World with Energy Systems
What if a tree, a thriving stock market, and a simple motor could all be described using the same scientific rules? That was the idea…
Posted inGeneral Systems Theory Systems Thinkers
Sir Geoffrey Vickers | The Thinker Who Mapped Human Judgment
Sir Geoffrey Vickers was a unique figure in the history of systems thinking. Unlike many early systems pioneers who were scientists or mathematicians, Vickers was…
Posted inGeneral Systems Theory Systems Thinkers
Kenneth Boulding | System Thinker Who Mapped Systems
Kenneth Boulding was far more than an economist. He was one of the most broad-minded and diverse thinkers of the 20th century. Boulding was a…
Posted inGeneral Systems Theory Systems Thinkers
Ludwig von Bertalanffy | Founder of General Systems Theory
If you want to understand life, you cannot just look at the smallest pieces. That was the powerful belief of Ludwig von Bertalanffy, an Austrian…
Posted inCybernetics Systems Thinkers
W. Ross Ashby: The Cyberneticist Who Mastered Stability and Complexity
If you want to understand the minimum amount of effort required to control a complex situation, you need to understand the work of W. Ross…
Posted inCybernetics Systems Thinkers
Margaret Mead: The Anthropologist Who Saw Culture as a System
If you want to understand why a society resists new ideas or why tradition can be so hard to change, you need to understand culture…