Imprint: Triarchy Press
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Format: Paperback
Extent: 338pp.
Size: 17 x 24.4 cm
ISBN: 978-1-908009-36-4
Tags: Systems Thinking, Messy Situations

Growing Wings on the Way
Systems Thinking for Messy Situations
Rosalind Armson
About the author
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Thinking Systems:
Systems Thinking for Messy Situations
Rosalind Armson 

This book is about dealing with messes. Sometimes known as 'wicked problems', messes (or messy situations) are fairly easy to spot:
  • it's hard to know where to start
  • we can't define them
  • everything seems to connect to everything else and depends on something else having been done first
  • we get in a muddle thinking about them
  • we often try to ignore some aspect/s of them
  • when we finally do something about them, they usually get worse
  • they're so entangled that our first mistake is usually to try and fix them as we would fix a simple problem.

Examples of messes might include:
  • the healthcare system in your country...
  • dealing with a family break-up...
  • exploring change, and making it happen, in your organisation...
  • worrying about how to look after your elderly parents...

Systems Thinking offers a range of ways to approach these situations and unravel them and this book explains those skills and techniques that can be used with many practical examples from the author's family and working life.

Here are some of the Systems Thinking tools and techniques described in the book. Follow the links for more detail on each one:
 "This is a timely book. Robin has an exemplary track record. As a close friend and confidant of Stafford Beer, he can be trusted to lead along creative and valuable roads."
Vanilla Beer, Artist

Readership

Whether you're new to Systems Thinking or have long experience, the book invites you to develop your skills through working with your own messy situations. It's written for managers, project managers, team leaders, 'change leaders', strategists, policy makers and concerned citizens as well as university students from a broad set of disciplines. 

Organisations and readers in education, healthcare, environmental management, IT planning and social care are just a few of those likely to find it helpful.

More about the book:

Book Homepage
Buy the book
Diagrams/Images from the Book

Tools & Techniques
(Extracted from the book):
Rich Pictures
Mental Traps
Diagrams
Complexity
Identifying Themes
Snappy Systems
System Definitions

Systems Thinking Skills
(Extracted from the book):
Enthusiasm
Humility
Respect

Further Resources
The Author
Author video
Read the Introduction

Related Titles:
The Search for Leadership
​Systems Thinking for Curious Managers
​Systems Thinking in the Public Sector