Book : The Systems Thinking Playbook (2008)
Categories: Education • Systems Thinking
Tags: book • booth sweeney • child • education • meadows • systems thinking
Publisher: The Sustainability Institute
Author(s): Booth Sweeney, Linda • Meadows, Dennis
Published: 2008 • ISBN: 0966612779 • 252 pages • Delivery Format: Hard Copy - Ring Bound
Available from: Amazon (DE) • Amazon (UK) • Amazon (US)
This entry is incomplete. If you can help provide missing information please let us know.
A list of all resources which we need help with is provided separately.
Summary
The Systems Thinking Playbook is a lively resource for the promotion of Systems Thinking.
Packed full of hands-on games and activities that stretch the mind and alter pre-conceived perceptions, The Systems Thinking Playbook is an ideal way to teach people to “go wide” and see underlying cause and effect relationships and recognize the delays inherent in any complex systems. The Playbook also abounds with practical advice for using the exercises to maximize the learning experience.
It has been used widely by schools, government agencies (both in the US and Internationally) and corporations to train managers to “think beyond the loop.”
Book with companion DVD!
This book has become a favorite of K-12 teachers, university faculty, and corporate consultants. It provides short gaming exercises that illustrate the subtleties of systems thinking. The companion DVD shows the authors introducing and running each of the 30 games.
The 30 games are classified by these areas of learning – Mental Models, Team Learning, Systems Thinking, Shared Vision and Personal Mastery. Each description clearly explains when, how, and why the game is useful. There are explicit instructions for debriefing each exercise as well as a list of all required materials. A summary matrix has been added for a quick glance at all 30 games. When you are in a hurry to find just the right initiative for some part of your course, the matrix will help you find it.
Linda Booth Sweeney and Dennis Meadows both have many years of experience working with adults. This book reflects their insights. Every game works well and provokes a deep variety of new insights about paradigms, system boundaries, causal loop diagrams, reference modes, and leverage points. Each of the 30 exercises here was tested and refined many times until it became a reliable source of learning. Some of the games are adapted from classics of the outdoor education field. Others are completely new. But all of them complement readings and lectures to help participants understand intuitively the principles of systems thinking.
The book includes many quotations from practitioner, who share their insights about the relevance of specific exercises. There are also citations for related reading
Reviews
Be the first to review this book - The Systems Thinking Playbook
Related Resources
« Previous When a Butterfly Sneezes: A Guide for Helping Kids Explore Interconnections in Our World ... Thinking in Systems: A Primer Next »
Chosen at random from all the resources listed:
- Managerial Applications of System Dynamics by Edward B Roberts
- Writing Better Requirements by Richard Stevens, Ian F. Alexander
- Rethinking the Fifth Discipline by Robert L. Flood
- Advanced Systems Thinking, Engineering, and Management by Derek K. Hitchins
- Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software by Steven Johnson