The Routledge Handbook of Systems Thinking
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 6. December 2026
Book
Hardback
784 pages
978-1-138-73739-6 (ISBN)
Description
This Handbook presents Systems Thinking applied to management and policy. It shows both the diversity of the field and also patterns that unify this diversity. It offers a rich resource of approaches, theories, methodologies and methods to tackle complex ecological, social and organizational problems.
It is widely held that Systems Thinking has undergone three somewhat distinct "waves" (or paradigms) of development. The first wave, from the 1950s to the 1970s, focused primarily on using expert, quantitative systems modelling to produce 'bigger picture' analyses that could inform management and policy decision making. The second wave, in the 1970s and 1980s, argued for qualitative modelling in the context of participative practice. Then the third wave, from the 1980s to the 2000s, emphasised the need to take power relationships into account, consider the ethics of systems practice, and produce bespoke, mixed-method designs to maximize flexibility and responsiveness. These three waves gave rise to a rich diversity of approaches. Each chapter introduces state-of-the-art knowledge of a given approach, and also details one or more applications to management or policy. Then the book concludes with discussions of the first swellings of a fourth wave of systems thinking. This is about the universal patterns underpinning the rich diversity of systems approaches-or the 'simple rules' of systems thinking that, when combined together, make the variety of different approaches possible. This further adds to the enrichment of practice, and provides exciting new opportunities for developing the field.
This handbook will be of interest to researchers, academics and students in the fields of business and management, especially those focusing on systems thinking and its development and application to management and policy.
It is widely held that Systems Thinking has undergone three somewhat distinct "waves" (or paradigms) of development. The first wave, from the 1950s to the 1970s, focused primarily on using expert, quantitative systems modelling to produce 'bigger picture' analyses that could inform management and policy decision making. The second wave, in the 1970s and 1980s, argued for qualitative modelling in the context of participative practice. Then the third wave, from the 1980s to the 2000s, emphasised the need to take power relationships into account, consider the ethics of systems practice, and produce bespoke, mixed-method designs to maximize flexibility and responsiveness. These three waves gave rise to a rich diversity of approaches. Each chapter introduces state-of-the-art knowledge of a given approach, and also details one or more applications to management or policy. Then the book concludes with discussions of the first swellings of a fourth wave of systems thinking. This is about the universal patterns underpinning the rich diversity of systems approaches-or the 'simple rules' of systems thinking that, when combined together, make the variety of different approaches possible. This further adds to the enrichment of practice, and provides exciting new opportunities for developing the field.
This handbook will be of interest to researchers, academics and students in the fields of business and management, especially those focusing on systems thinking and its development and application to management and policy.
Reviews / Votes
"Systems thinking has a distinguished history and is more vibrant today than it has ever been. It is based on sound theory and is of the utmost practical relevance in today's complex world. I'm pleased to say that it is becoming more and more influential. This Handbook demonstrates all these aspects of systems thinking and is a major contribution to the literature of the field" Michael C. Jackson, International Society for the Systems Sciences and the International Federation for Systems Research."Bringing together Gerald Midgley's internationally recognized work in systemic intervention with exciting new developments in the fundamentals of systems thinking pioneered by Derek and Laura Cabrera, this edited volume offers a unique and valuable contribution to the systems field, with diverse authors documenting methodologies and concrete examples of practical application across the entire range of systems approaches." Debora Hammond, Sonoma State University, USA and the International Society of the Systems Sciences.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate
Illustrations
255 s/w Zeichnungen, 278 s/w Abbildungen, 23 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 75 s/w Tabellen
75 Tables, black and white; 255 Line drawings, black and white; 23 Halftones, black and white; 278 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 246 mm
Width: 174 mm
Weight
453 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-138-73739-6 (9781138737396)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Derek Cabrera is Faculty at the Brooks School for Public Policy at Cornell University, the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs (CIPA), SC Johnson College of Business, Executive Education, and Senior Scientist at Cabrera Research Lab.
Laura Cabrera is Faculty at the Brooks School for Public Policy at Cornell University, the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs (CIPA), SC Johnson College of Business, Executive Education, and Senior Scientist at Cabrera Research Lab.
Gerald Midgley is Professor at the Centre for Systems Studies, Faculty of Business, Law and Politics at the University of Hull. He is Faculty of Technology at the Department of Informatics at Linnaeus University, Vaexjoe, Sweden.
Laura Cabrera is Faculty at the Brooks School for Public Policy at Cornell University, the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs (CIPA), SC Johnson College of Business, Executive Education, and Senior Scientist at Cabrera Research Lab.
Gerald Midgley is Professor at the Centre for Systems Studies, Faculty of Business, Law and Politics at the University of Hull. He is Faculty of Technology at the Department of Informatics at Linnaeus University, Vaexjoe, Sweden.
Content
1. The Four Waves of Systems Thinking Derek Cabrera, Laura Cabrera, and Gerald Midgley Section I: The First Wave of Systems Thinking 2. System Dynamics in Action Ignacio Martinex-Moyano 3. Systems Engineering-Reengineered: The Fourth Wave Hise Gibson, Stephen Gillespie, Paul Evangelista, Matthew Dabkowski 4. Systems Thinking and the Engineering Leader James Schreiner, Hise Gibson, Ricardo Morales 5. The Viable System Model: An Introduction to Theory and Practice Angela Espinosa, Jon Walker and Andrea Martinez-Lozada 6. Integrated resource planning: a systems approach to utility planning Andrea Turner and Simon Fane 7. The Simple Rules of Complex Networks A Heuristic for Determining the Potential Complexity of Any Network and Making Structural Predictions Derek Cabrera, Leighton Arnold and Laura Cabrera 8. The Vanguard Method: Beyond Command and Control John Seddon and Brendan O'Donovan 9. "Hard" and "Soft" Methods in Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS): Agent Based Modeling (ABM) and the Agent Based Approach (ABA) Yeni Oktavia Mulyono, Unur Sukhbaatar and Derek Cabrera Section II: The Second Wave 10. Introduction to Soft Systems Methodology Giles A. Hindle 11. The Formal Systems Model - Understanding and Preventing Information Systems Project Failures Geoff Peters, Joyce Fortune and Diana White 12. Sociotechnical Systems Thinking: Appraisal and Prospects John W. Selsky and Oguz N. Babueroglu 13. Interactive Planning John Pourdehnad 14. The Autopoietic Character of Society Dionysios S. Demetis 15. Delphi Method: A democratic dialectical, consensus seeking open systems approach Shankar Sankaran 16. Evolutionary Learning Laboratories: Diagnosing and Overcoming Complex or "Wicked" Problems Nam Nguyen, Ockie Bosch, Kwamina Banson and Thanh V. Nguyen 17. Strategic Assumption Surfacing and Testing (SAST) Vince P. Barabba and Ian I. Mitroff 18. System Thinking for Project Management? Risky not to Fran Ackermann 19. Dialogic Design Science: An Approach for Co-Creating Visionary Anticipations Maria Kakoulaki, Thomas R. Flanagan and Alexander N. Christakis Section III: The Third Wave 20. Critical Systems Thinking: An Evolving Systemic Approach Luis Arturo Pinzon-Salcedo 21. Critical Systems Heuristics Emily Gates and Raquel Muniz 22. Mixing Methods in Systems Practice John Brocklesby 23. Systemic Innovation Erik Lindhult 24. The Systemic Intervention Approach Gerald Midgley 25. AMESH: an Ecosystems Approach to Managing for Sustainability and Health David Waltner-Toews 26. Ecological Governance Bryan Jenkins 27. WSR: A Chinese Systems Approach Zhichang Zhu 28. Feminist-systems thinking: From mere principles to a United Nations Framework Anne Stephens 29. PANDA (Participatory Appraisal of Needs and Development of Action): a multi methodological framework Ann Taket and Leroy White 30. Systemic Thinking for Regenerative Development Norma R.A. Room and Janet J. McIntyre-Mills 31. Systems and Futures Anthony Hodgson Section IV: The Fourth Wave 32. Any Person, Any Study: A Different Kind of Theory of Everything (ToE) Derek Cabrera and Laura Cabrera 33. Meta Rational Ways of Knowing Raghav Rajagopalan 34. A Literature Review of the Universal and Atomic Elements of Complex Cognition Derek Cabrera, Laura Cabrera and Elena Cabrera 35. The Universal Cognitive Grammar of Systems Mapping: A Rubric to Evaluate the Various Tools and Techniques of Systems Mapping Arturo Castellanos Canales, Paulina Lucio Maymon and Derek Cabrera 36. Systems Scribing: An Emerging Visual Practice Kelvy Bird and Jessica Riehl 37. A Systemic Lens on the Modal Model of the Mind Yeni Oktavia Mulyono, Elena Cabrera, Unur Sukhbaarar, Laura Cabrera and Derek Cabrera 38. Map-Activate-Check: A Systems Thinking-based Approach to Curriculum and Program Design Dr. Jeremy Solin 39. The Future of Systems X? Derek Cabrera, Laura Cabrera and Graeme Troxell 40. Systems Evaluation (SysEval): Applying Systems Thinking to Evaluation Laura Cabrera, Jennifer Kushner and Derek Cabrera 41. Adaptive Leadership for Agile Organizations Laura Cabrera and Derek Cabrera 42. Defining Learning: A Change in Mental Model Derek Cabrera and Laura Cabrera 43. Leapfrog Leaders: Accelerating Systems Leadership Skills Derek Cabrera, Laura Cabrera and Hise Gibson 44. Developing and Validating a Measurement of Systems Thinking: The Systems Thinking and Metacognitive Inventory (STMI) Laura Cabrera, Jessica Sokolow and Derek Cabrera 45. Developing Personal Mastery of Systems Thinking Derek Cabrera and Laura Cabrera