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

Publisher's summary

Find the optimal solutions to your problems. Gain a deep understanding of the “what, why, how, when, how much” questions of your life.

Become a systems thinker and discover how to approach your life from a completely new perspective.

What is systems thinking? Put simply, it is thinking about how things interact with one another. 

Why should this matter to you? Because you are a system. You are a part of smaller and larger systems - your community, your country, your species. Understanding your role within these systems and how these systems affect, hinder, or aid the fulfillment of your life can lead you to better answers about yourself and the world.

Information is the most precious asset these days. Evaluating that information correctly is almost priceless. Systems thinkers are some of the bests in collecting and assessing information, as well as creating impactful solutions in any context.

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. 

Systems thinking clears your vision by teaching you not only to find the differences between the elements but also the similarities. This bidirectional analyzing ability will give you a more complex worldview, deeper understanding of problems, and thus better solutions.

The car stopped because its tank is empty - so it needs gas. Easy problem, easy solution, right? But could you explain just as easily why the price of gas rose five percent the past month? After becoming a systems thinker, you’ll be able to answer that question just as easily.

Change your thoughts, change your results. 

• What are the main elements, questions, and methods of thinking in systems?
• The most widely used systems archetypes, maps, models, and analytical methods.
• Learn to identify and provide solutions even the most complex system problems.
• Deepen your understanding about human motivation with systems thinking.

The past 50 years brought so many changes in our lives. The world has become more interconnected than ever. Old rules can’t explain the new world anymore. But systems thinking can. Embrace systems thinking and become a master of analytical, critical, and creative thinking. 

©2018 Albert Rutherford (P)2018 Albert Rutherford

Don't buy this.

Do yourself a favor and buy System Thinking: A Primer by Donella Meadows instead. That one will actually teach you about system thinking.
Furthermore the narrator is dry and monotone.

Heads up. Its story telling time!

When I choose these types of books I am often looking different views of how to interpret problems and practical ways to apply the concepts of the book.Maybe I misunderstood the intent of the book it this seed like story on top of story 9n top of story to communicate the same point. Not much problem/ solution ideas or ways to approach building a system IMO.

Politically biased, but some very good ideas

This whole book is definitely biased towards the progressive side of politics, but has some excellent ideas about systems. The solutions are good but could be insurmountable in today's society unfortunately. I like the real world data that was presented in the narrator was good. This is a perfect book for audible since I think it would be quite droll if you were reading it on your own!

Too many EXAMPLES!!!

Almost every chapter was a series of EXAMPLES....yes, the reader understands after a few examples there are SYSTEMS in nature/human body/government etc....!!! What I had hoped for was information which formatted Systems Thinking into real-life. I finally had to stop listening during the Country/Animal Name Chapter...another example yet nothing for application!!!!

Horrible….narration, rambling….

Horrible….narration, rambling….and seemingly little to do with what I imagine systems thinking is actually about. I shall have to read more books on the subject to give a more accurate account, however the narration alone was enough to stop listening from the very beginning.

An over simplification of systemic thinking.

I like the idea of this book. Quite sure I can identify his voting patterns... 🙄

Essential reading for all as it presents clearly the basics of system theory..

Recommended reading to understand how we are all interdependent and how linear cause and effect is obsolete