vesterberg.se

A week ago I completed “An Introduction to General Systems Thinking” by Gerald Weinberg. What a book!

During Christmas I read the novel “The Aremac Project” by the same author. That book is a sci-fi thriller about two software developers. Since Gerald Weinberg is a consultant in the computer industry, I became curious about it and bought it. It was well written and exciting with all the details interestingly and correctly described. Anyway I sensed he was a good writer with depth and I wanted to read more. I am constantly hunting for books and resources that are food for thought, about software development, project management or life in general. Finding a good book is like finding a treasure. The past year systems thinking and lean thinking have been on my mind. So all this lead me to “An Introduction to General Systems Thinking”.

What is systems thinking? Wikipedia says:
“Systems thinking is a framework that is based on the belief that the component parts of a system will act differently when the systems relationships are removed and it is viewed in isolation. The only way to fully understand why a problem or element occurs and persists is to understand the part in relation to the whole. Standing in contrast to Descartes’, scientific reductionism and philosophical analysis, it proposes to view systems in a holistic manner. Consistent with systems philosophy, systems thinking concerns an understanding of a system by examining the linkages and interactions between the elements that comprise the entirety of the system.”

We have concentrated on and optimized components and forgotten the interaction between them, perhaps because of the complexities involved. We have exaggerated the apparent independence of the parts of a system. Science has been very successful, but the consequences or side effects as seen today are scaring. Look at the effects on nature for example. Systems thinking study the process of defining models and making assumptions to find the optimum necessary ingredients in a systems model for a specific purpose that is possible to handle and solve.

The book was originally published in 1975 and has been reprinted many times. It has become a classic. Weinberg uses clear writing and basic algebraic principles to explore new approaches to projects, products, organizations, and all kinds of system. He unravels the scientific defining of systems and the assumptions and simplifications made. Weinberg discusses the science of mechanics and the science of large populations and how the underlying philosophies and the simplifications made have been used inappropriately for systems that should have been handled in a different way.

The book requires some concentration and energy to read, but is indeed food for thought. To me, systems thinking really improves my thinking as a project manager, application developer, general problems solver and as someone who cares for the environmental issues and for people around me.