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# Handbook of Systems Thinking

## Details

**Authors** Cabrera, Cabrera & Midgley (eds.)

**Year** 2023

**Publisher** Journal of Systems Thinking

**Kind of work** edited-volume

**Reading level** intermediate

[Read it](https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.54120/jost.000051) 
10.54120/jost.000051

## In authors' words

### Abstract

This Handbook is about the past, present, and future of systems thinking. It captures the history of systems thinking over its first three ‘waves,’ which are thought of as significant paradigmatic time periods in the history of the field. It then introduces a (possible) emerging fourth wave. Herein, we review the first three waves, as they have been written about in depth before, and dedicate more space to describing the fourth wave, as this is likely to be new to many readers. We cover all four waves as an entree to the many chapters, which were both recommended by an International Advisory Board (listed and thanked in the front material of this book), and written by esteemed invited authors. These chapters aptly describe the various frameworks that characterize the different waves; and notably include how those frameworks have continued to evolve since their origin.

## Commentary

### In short

Edited volume (co-edited with Gerald Midgley) surveying the field, including many external systems scholars.

**Patterns it shows** D, S, R, P

## Questions it bears on

- Referred to by: [Response to paper “Systems thinking” by D. Cabrera et al.:: The unification of systems thinking: Is there gold at the end of the rainbow?](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/117)
- Referred to by: ['Hard' and 'Soft' Methods in Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS): Agent Based Modeling (ABM) and the Agent Based Approach (ABA)](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/280)
- Referred to by: [Defining Learning.](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/285)
- Referred to by: [The Future of Systems X? If You Want a Better Systems X Discipline or Program, Upgrade Your Systems Thinking to Version 4.0](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/290)
- Referred to by: [Systems Thinking for Sustainability: Illustrated by the Application to Soil Erosion and Food Security](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/307)
- Referred to by: [A Literature Review of the Universal and Atomic Elements of Complex Cognition](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/359)
- Referred to by: [A Systemic Lens on the Modal Model of the Mind](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/360)
- Referred to by: [Adaptive Leadership for Agile Organizations](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/361)
- Referred to by: [AMESH: An Ecosystems Approach to Managing for Sustainability and Health](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/364)
- Referred to by: [Any Person, Any Study](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/365)
- Referred to by: [Critical Systems Heuristics](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/368)
- Referred to by: [Critical Systems Thinking: An Evolving Systemic Approach](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/369)
- Referred to by: [Delphi Method: A Democratic Dialectical, Consensus Seeking Open Systems Approach](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/371)
- Referred to by: [Developing and Validating a Measurement of Systems Thinking (STMI)](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/373)
- Referred to by: [Developing Personal Mastery in Systems Thinking](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/374)
- Referred to by: [Dialogic Design Science: An Approach for Co-Creating Visionary Anticipations](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/375)
- Referred to by: [Ecological Governance](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/377)
- Referred to by: [Evolutionary Learning Laboratories: Diagnosing and Overcoming Complex or 'Wicked' Problems](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/380)
- Referred to by: [Feminist-Systems Thinking: From Mere Principles to a United Nations Framework](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/381)
- Referred to by: [Integrated Resource Planning: A Systems Approach to Utility Planning](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/388)
- Referred to by: [Interactive Planning](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/389)
- Referred to by: [Introduction to Soft Systems Methodology](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/390)
- Referred to by: [Leapfrog Leaders: How Lowlighting Content and Highlighting Cognitive Structure and Dynamics Can Leapfrog Leaders to the Next Level](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/391)
- Referred to by: [Map-Activate-Check: A Systems Thinking-Based Approach to Curriculum and Program Design](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/392)
- Referred to by: [Meta Rational Ways of Knowing](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/393)
- Referred to by: [Mixing Methods in Systems Practice](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/394)
- Referred to by: [PANDA (Participatory Appraisal of Needs and Development of Action): A Multi-Methodological Framework](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/396)
- Referred to by: [Strategic Assumption Surfacing and Testing (SAST)](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/405)
- Referred to by: [System Dynamics in Action](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/406)
- Referred to by: [Systemic Innovation](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/407)
- Referred to by: [Systemic Thinking for Re-Generative Development](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/408)
- Referred to by: [Systems and Futures](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/409)
- Referred to by: [Systems Evaluation: Applying Systems Thinking to Evaluation](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/411)
- Referred to by: [Systems Scribing: An Emerging Visual Practice](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/412)
- Referred to by: [Systems Thinking and the Engineering Leader](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/413)
- Referred to by: [Systems Thinking for Project Management? Risky Not To](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/414)
- Referred to by: [Systems Thinking for Systems Engineers: A Foundational Skill](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/415)
- Referred to by: [The Autopoietic Character of Society](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/417)
- Referred to by: [The Formal System Model: Understanding and Preventing Information Systems Project Failures](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/420)
- Referred to by: [The Four Waves of Systems Thinking](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/421)
- Referred to by: [The Simple Rules of Complex Networks: A Heuristic for Determining the Potential Complexity of Any Network and Making Structural Predictions](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/423)
- Referred to by: [The Systemic Intervention Approach](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/425)
- Referred to by: [The Universal Cognitive Grammar of Systems Mapping: A Rubric to Evaluate the Various Tools and Techniques of Systems Mapping](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/426)
- Referred to by: [The Vanguard Method: Beyond Command and Control](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/427)
- Referred to by: [The Viable System Model: An Introduction to Theory and Practice](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/428)
- Referred to by: [WSR: A Chinese Systems Approach](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/430)

**How to cite this** Cabrera, Cabrera & Midgley (eds.) (2023). Handbook of Systems Thinking. Journal of Systems Thinking.