General Principles of Systems Design

One of the wonderful things about the Weinbergs' early series of books -- and this one in particular -- is that the ideas and the examples really make you think. With examples chosen from many fields, the book illustrates its central ideas with a cross-fertilization that helps one think outside ones box. It starts with a very simple idea -- stability. Things change so little most of the time we hardly notice. And yet stability usually requires active forces to sustain it. As an information systems designer, Weinberg helped me see why this simple idea, and a few simple ideas that follow, turn out to explain a great deal about why projects information technology projects fail, and how they can be made more successful.

An outstanding follow up to the first book Weinberg wrote(An Introduction to General Systems Thinking, 1975). Anyone who considers themseleves a systems thinker must read this book! Whereas the first book attempts to answer the first question in the systems triumvirate, "Why do we see what we see?", this books tackles the next question, namely "Why do things stay the same?" As a marriage and family therapist, understanding systems is crucial to my work. This book is clearly written, and provides real world examples of sometimes difficult topics. I have read this book cover to cover 3 times in the last 2 years, and continue to get something new from it every time. One of the best books around to think about the organization of systems, regardless of the context.