[著作文章] 系統思考 Donella H. Meadows [推广有奖]

在擔任國際暢銷書《成長的極限》的主要作者之後的幾年裡，Donella Meadows一直是環境和社會分析的先驅者，直到她在2001年不幸去世。

《系統思考》是一本簡明而重要的書，提供了從個人到全球規模的問題解決的見解。由可持續發展研究所的Diana Wright編輯，這本基礎讀物將系統思考從電腦和方程式的領域帶入了切實的世界，向讀者展示如何培養全球思想領袖認為對21世紀生活至關重要的系統思考能力。

世界面臨的一些最大問題，如戰爭、飢餓、貧困和環境退化，本質上是系統失敗。它們無法通過單獨修復一個部分來解決，因為即使是看似微小的細節也有巨大的力量來破壞過於狹隘思維的最佳努力。

雖然讀者將學習系統思考的概念工具和方法，但這本書的核心比方法論更宏大。Donella Meadows以培養積極結果而聞名，她不僅深入研究全球困境背後的科學，還提醒讀者要關注重要的事物，而不僅僅是可量化的事物，要保持謙虛，保持學習者的身份。

在一個越來越複雜、擁擠和相互依賴的世界中，《系統思考》幫助讀者避免困惑和無助，這是尋找積極和有效解決方案的第一步。

In the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth―the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet― Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001.

Thinking in Systems, is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute’s Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world, showing readers how to develop the systems-thinking skills that thought leaders across the globe consider critical for 21st-century life.

Some of the biggest problems facing the world―war, hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation―are essentially system failures. They cannot be solved by fixing one piece in isolation from the others, because even seemingly minor details have enormous power to undermine the best efforts of too-narrow thinking.

While readers will learn the conceptual tools and methods of systems thinking, the heart of the book is grander than methodology. Donella Meadows was known as much for nurturing positive outcomes as she was for delving into the science behind global dilemmas. She reminds readers to pay attention to what is important, not just what is quantifiable, to stay humble, and to stay a learner.

In a world growing ever more complicated, crowded, and interdependent, Thinking in Systems helps readers avoid confusion and helplessness, the first step toward finding proactive and effective solutions.