Seeing the Forest for the Trees: A Manager's Guide to Applying Systems Thinking Paperback – July 11, 2002

This is an extraordinary book about systems thinking. In this book it is possible to learn about how everything is connected and how just a little modification can change everything; literally, this book can open your eyes. Unlike most business books, this one is based on sound scientific research but it is not loaded with tons of jargon; instead Sherwood wrote a quite readable,funny and concise book.

Had to order this in a rush for a class and thanks to Amazon it was available at a great kindle price. Life Saver

I have been using this textbook for 6 years in a module of a course on Causal Loop Diagrams (CLDs) for both Engineering Students and Futures Studies students. I have not been able to find any better book and have recommended it to many "Systems Thinkers" and they were all impressed.However, it is not a guide on Systems Thinking (the author does not claim that either). It is a very good book on one particular technique from the Systems Methods toolkit, i.e. CLDs. If you want to learn how to create, interpret and use CLDs this is the best textbook imho. Behaviour of Time (BoT) diagrams are also covered but it is because it is easier to understand many of the CLD archetypes when you see the BoT graph.Excellent book!

Very helpful and detailed.

This is one of the best book for system thinking, very helpful, I really learned a lot by reading it

Up to now, this is the best book that introduced me to the concept of causal loops in a business context. It is not an easy reading so, but it has a quite "slow" and explanatory approach to doing it. Furthermore, it introduces the dynamic approach through simulation in order to get insights of complex issues, and provide a good start to pursue simulations further. I believe that I can now quite better go through my own graphing of causal loops and simulations.

I have some system thinking book and confess that I had never finished any one even for this excellent book. Still I find no other introductory book can be in par with it for its simplicity but with sufficient details and examples. Yet you must buy one and not to photcopy it since you wojld need to see the 'arrows' (used to indicate the cause-and-effect relationship) in colour so to understand the samples.

This is an extraordinary, in the sense of out-of-the-ordinary, book. Flipping through it, you see page after page of loops and curves. At first, you might think it is a guide to drawing. And in a sense, it is. Most of the book explains how to use depictions of various types of loops to represent different kinds of business problems. Such problems never occur in isolation, because every business is a system, and everything that happens in a business has causes and effects that reach into other areas of the business and into the outside world. Author Dennis Sherwood is not peddling a simple notion, but rather is explaining "systems thinking," a method of analyzing systems and processes. We unexpectedly found this quite entertaining, written with a light touch and bound to give almost any manager some new, valuable insights. On the down side, the author probably could have delivered his core message more succinctly, and after a while his insistence on demonstrating and categorizing the species and genera of loops begins to seem, well, a bit loopy.

Muy buen libro

This book focuses on causal diagram (incl. different types of feedback loops), one the main systems thinking tool, and provides illustrative examples in the field of management and business. It then highlights the key features and advantages of computer-based systems modeling.

Very useful for someone involved in strategic decision-making in organisations. Comprehensively conveyed without ever speaking down to the reader.

This is an excellent introduction to systems thinking. It uses numerous examples from the business world to explain the concepts. Highly recommended.

This has to be in contention for my book of the year for 2014 so far (out of 45 so far). This book introduces system thinking in a very light manner, then seamlessly drifts causal loops into the equation and before you are finished you are well on your way to understanding system dynamics.Maybe this book appealed to my learning style (although I do not thinks so) or maybe the writing style was just right for me (maybe) or maybe it was right time, who knows, but I have read this book 3 times in as many weekends, drew complex causal loops in front of clients for the first time in my life without any concern and feel my understanding of systems thinking has grown 300%.it may not be for everybody but anybody who has an interest in discovering more about systems thinking should make this book their starting point