Reading and coverage
A systems | complexity | cybernetics reading list
This is an item-level depth map of the public reading list. Inclusion means ‘on the list’. It does not mean every work has been read, endorsed or critically developed in the atlas.
110captured items
29developed profiles
1represented more thinly
80inventory-only
Every captured item is visible. Developed profile means the atlas has a sourced interpretive profile; represented means a canonical entry exists but remains thinner; inventory only means the item is recorded without pretending it has been critically developed.
Follow the core systems-practice reading route · Open the public source list
| Section | Reading-list item | Atlas depth |
|---|---|---|
| systems-y | The Grammar of Systems: From Order to Chaos & Back– 2022 Patrick Hoverstadt | Developed profile |
| systems-y | opening the box: systems thinking for transformative conversations – 2024 Jan De Visch, Miguel Pantaleón, Namrata Arora, Tony Korycki | Developed profile |
| systems-y | Critical Systems Thinking: A Practitioner's Guide – 2024 Michael C. Jackson | Developed profile |
| systems-y | Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity – 2019 Michael C. Jackson | Inventory only |
| systems-y | Essential Balances: Stop Looking and Start Seeing What Makes Organizations Work – 2020 Ivo Velitchkov | Developed profile |
| systems-y | Systems Thinkers– 2020 Magnus Ramage, Karen Shipp | Developed profile |
| systems-y | Systems Approaches to Making Change: A Practical Guide – 2020 Martin Reynolds, Sue Holwell (Retired) (Editors) | Developed profile |
| systems-y | The Hidden Power of Systems Thinking: Governance in a Climate Emergency – Illustrated, 2020 Ray Ison and Ed Straw | Developed profile |
| systems-y | Werner Ulrich, a mini-primer of Critical Systems Heuristics (and other CSH materials) wulrich.com/csh.html | Developed profile |
| systems-y | Patterns of Strategy– 2017 Patrick Hoverstadt, Lucy Loh | Developed profile |
| systems-y | Systems Thinking, Systems Practice: Includes a 30-Year Retrospective– 1999 Peter Checkland | Developed profile |
| systems-y | Thinking in Systems: International Bestseller– Illustrated, 2017 Donella Meadows, Diana Wright (Editor) | Developed profile |
| systems-y | Dancing With Systems Donella Meadows donellameadows.org/archives/dancing-with-systems/ | Developed profile |
| systems-y | Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System Donella Meadows donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/ | Developed profile |
| systems-y | Practices of Dynamic Collaboration: A Dialogical Approach to Strengthening Collaborative Intelligence in Teams (Management for Professionals) Hardcover – 2020 Jan De Visch, Otto Laske | Inventory only |
| systems-y | Organizational Learning II: Theory, Method, and Practice: Theory, Method, and Practice (Addison-Wesley OD Series)– Facsimile, 1995 Chris Argyris | Inventory only |
| systems-y | Systems convening: a crucial form of leadership for the 21st century – 2021, Etienne Wenger-Trayner, Beverly Wenger-Trayner | Developed profile |
| management cybernetics / VSM | The Fractal Organization: Creating sustainable organizations with the Viable System Model–2009 Patrick Hoverstadt | Developed profile |
| management cybernetics / VSM | The Little Book of Beyond Budgeting: A New Operating System for Organisations: What it is and Why it Works– 2017 Steve Morlidge | Inventory only |
| management cybernetics / VSM | The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions - and How The World Lost its Mind – 2025 Dan Davies | Inventory only |
| management cybernetics / VSM | Mike Burrows - Wholehearted | Inventory only |
| management cybernetics / VSM | Cybernetics: A New Management Tool CRC Press, 1991 Barry Clemson | Inventory only |
| Stafford Beer | Heart of Enterprise – 1995 | Inventory only |
| Stafford Beer | Diagnosing the System for Organizations – 1995 | Inventory only |
| Stafford Beer | Platform for Change – 1995 | Inventory only |
| Stafford Beer | Decision and Control – 1995 | Inventory only |
| Stafford Beer | Brain of the Firm – 1995 | Inventory only |
| Stafford Beer | Organizational Systems: Managing Complexity with the Viable System Model Hardcover – Illustrated, 2011 Raul Espejo, Alfonso Reyes | Developed profile |
| cybernetics-ish | Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemology – Illustrated, 2000, Gregory Bateson | Developed profile |
| cybernetics-ish | Gregory Bateson: Essays for an Ecology of Ideas: 12 (Cybernetics & Human Knowing) – Illustrated, 2005, Frederick Steier (Editor) | Inventory only |
| cybernetics-ish | Mind and Nature – 1980, Gregory Bateson | Inventory only |
| cybernetics-ish | Heinz Von Foerster 1911-2002 (Cybernetics & Human Knowing) – 2004, Soren Brier (Editor), Ranulph Glanville (Editor) | Inventory only |
| cybernetics-ish | Understanding Understanding: Essays on Cybernetics and Cognition – 2010, Heinz von Foerster | Developed profile |
| cybernetics-ish | Observing Systems (Systems Inquiry Series) – 1982, Heinz Von Foerster | Inventory only |
| cybernetics-ish | Governance: Systemic Foundation and Framework – Ralf-Eckhard Türke (book – 344 pages) | Inventory only |
| complexity | Navigating Complexity: The Essential Guide to Complexity Theory in Business and Management– Illustrated, 1999 Arthur Battram | Developed profile |
| complexity | Complexity explorer complexityexplorer.org | Inventory only |
| complexity | Complexity and the Nexus of Leadership: Leveraging Nonlinear Science to Create Ecologies of Innovation – 2010 J. Goldstein, J. Hazy, B. Lichtenstein | Inventory only |
| complexity | Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty – 2010 Nick Obolensky | Inventory only |
| complexity | Complexity: A Guided Tour – 2011 Melanie Mitchell | Inventory only |
| complexity | At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity – 1996 Stuart Kauffman | Inventory only |
| complexity | Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software – 2002 Steven Johnson | Inventory only |
| complexity | The Logic Of Failure: Recognizing And Avoiding Error In Complex Situations – 1997 Dietrich Dorner | Inventory only |
| complexity | Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World – Illustrated 2006 Margaret J. Wheatley | Inventory only |
| complexity | Managing the Unexpected: Resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty – 2007 Karl E. Weick, Kathleen M. Sutcliffe | Inventory only |
| complexity | Sensemaking in Organizations – 1995 Karl E. Weick | Inventory only |
| complexity | The Origins of Order: Self-Organization and Selection in Evolution – 1993 Stuart A. Kauffman | Inventory only |
| complexity | At Home in the Universe: The Search for Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity – 1996 Stuart Kauffman | Inventory only |
| complexity | More Is Different – P. W. Anderson Science, New Series, Vol. 177, No. 4047. (Aug. 4, 1972), pp. 393-396. cse-robotics.engr.tamu.edu/dshell/cs689/papers/anderson72more_is_different.pdf | Inventory only |
| complexity | Complex Responsive Processes in Organizations: Learning and Knowledge Creation (Complexity and Emergence in Organizations) – 2001 Ralph Stacey | Developed profile |
| complexity | Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics: The Challenge of Complexity to Ways of Thinking About Organisations – 2015 Ralph.D. Stacey | Inventory only |
| complexity | Complexity: A Key Idea for Business and Society (Key Ideas in Business and Management) – 2021 Chris Mowles | Inventory only |
| complexity | Managing in Uncertainty: Complexity and the paradoxes of everyday organizational life – 2015 Chris Mowles | Developed profile |
| complexity | Rethinking Management: Radical Insights from the Complexity Sciences – 2016, Chris Mowles | Inventory only |
| complexity | Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis. A field guide for decision makers inspired by the Cynefin framework – 2021 Dave Snowden, Alessandro Rancati publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC123629 | Developed profile |
| complexity | The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world – 2003, Cynthia Kurtz, David Snowden researchgate.net/publication/224101753_The_new_dynamics_of_strategy_Sense-making_in_a_complex_and_complicated_world | Developed profile |
| complexity | A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making – 2007 David J. Snowden, Mary E. Boone, Harvard Business Review | Developed profile |
| complexity | Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos – 1993, M.M. Waldrop | Inventory only |
| complexity | Complexity and Postmodernism: Understanding Complex Systems – 1998, Paul Cilliers | Inventory only |
| complexity | The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World – 1995, Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen | Inventory only |
| complexity | Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life – 2014, Albert-Laszlo Barabasi | Inventory only |
| complexity | Sources of Power – How People Make Decisions – 1999, Gary A. Klein | Inventory only |
| complexity | Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World – 2015 Stanley McChrystal, David Silverman, Tantum Collins, Chris Fussell | Inventory only |
| intervention skills | Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used Hardcover – 2011 Peter Block | Developed profile |
| intervention skills | Humble Consulting: How to Provide Real Help Faster (AGENCY/DISTRIBUTED)– Illustrated, 2016 Edgar H. Schein | Inventory only |
| intervention skills | The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action (Arena)– International Edition, 1991 Donald A. Schön | Inventory only |
| older list – systems/articles | Systems One: An Introduction to Systems Thinking – Draper L. Kauffman Jr. (book – 48 pages) | Inventory only |
| older list – systems/articles | Making Work Systems Better – Luc Hoebeke (book – 138 pages) | Inventory only |
| older list – systems/articles | Epistemological Crises, Dramatic Narrative, and the Philosophy of Science – Alasdair MacIntyre (journal publication – 20 pages) | Inventory only |
| older list – systems/articles | A first lesson in meta-rationality – David Chapman | Inventory only |
| older list – systems/articles | Barry Oshry’s Organic Systems Framework (power+systems) – human systems. | Developed profile |
| older list – systems/articles | There is no new paradigm – Barry Oshry (article – 17 pages) | Inventory only |
| older list – systems/articles | Social Systems: Understanding the power of position: A Diagnostic Level- Michael Sales | Inventory only |
| older list – systems/articles | The Organic Systems Framework: A New Paradigm for Understanding and Intervening in Organizational Life – Barry Oshry (short book – 60 pages) Amazon: | Developed profile |
| older list – systems/articles | Context, Context, Context: How Our Blindness to Context Cripples Even the Smartest Organizations – Barry Oshry (short book – 158 pages) | Inventory only |
| older list – systems/articles | An Overview of the Soft Systems Methodology – Stuart Burge (article – 14 pages) | Inventory only |
| older list – systems/articles | A Systems Literacy Manifesto – Hugh Dubberly (presentation – 59 slides) | Inventory only |
| older list – systems/articles | Simple Rules for a Complex World – Kathy Eisenhardt, Donald Sull (short article – 12 pages) | Inventory only |
| older list – systems/articles | Adaptiveness in human social organisation: some guiding principles – Michael Church (journal– ten pages) | Inventory only |
| older list – systems/articles | Double Loop Learning in Organizations Chris Argyris (journal publication – eleven pages) 6-30partners.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Chris-Argyris-Double-Loop-Learning-in-Organisations.pdf | Represented |
| older list – systems/articles | If Russ Ackoff had given a TED talk (twelve minutes) | Inventory only |
| older list – systems/articles | Systems Approaches to Public Sector Challenges: Working with Change, OECD (free) | Inventory only |
| older list – systems/articles | Categorising systems leadership and systems change – Benjamin Taylor with stream.syscoi.com/2021/06/21/a-schema-for-better-understanding-systems-leadership-and-systems-change | Developed profile |
| VSM articles | Its provenance, development, methodology and pathology – Stafford Beer (journal publication – 19 pages) | Inventory only |
| VSM articles | The Viable Systems Model Presentation – Jon Walker and Angela Espinosa (presentation – 42 slides) | Inventory only |
| VSM articles | The Viable System Model and its Application to Complex Organizations – Allenna Leonard, Ph.D (academic paper – 13 pages) | Inventory only |
| VSM articles | Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model An Interpretation By Trevor Hilder (journal publication – 49 pages) | Inventory only |
| VSM articles | The Viable Systems Model Guide (journal publication – 94 pages) | Inventory only |
| VSM articles | Modelling Organisations using The Viable System Model Patrick Hoverstadt & Diane Bowling (article – nine pages) | Inventory only |
| VSM articles | The SCiO Organisational Maturity Model – free, easy questionnaire generating interesting results and archetypes | Developed profile |
| government | Commissioning is an approach to transformation (2018) – Benjamin Taylor and Garath Symonds | Inventory only |
| government | Treaty for Government – a systems thinking approach to Government – Ed Straw treatyforgovernment.com/ (book – 254 pages) | Inventory only |
| government | Stand & Deliver: A Design for Successful Government – Ed Straw (presentation – 21 slides) | Inventory only |
| other relevant books | Images of Organization – Gareth Morgan (long book – 520 pages) Amazon: | Inventory only |
| other relevant books | Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps – Jennifer Berger (article – 24 pages) (book – 168 pages) Amazon: Complexity/dp/1503609014 | Inventory only |
| other relevant books | The Systems Thinking Playbook – Meadows and Sweeney | Inventory only |
| other relevant books | Systems Thinking for Social Change – Stroh | Inventory only |
| other relevant books | The Systems Approach and Its Enemies – West Churchman | Inventory only |
| other relevant books | Safety Differently: Human Factors for a New Era, Second Edition – Dekker | Inventory only |
| other relevant books | Strong Towns – Marohn | Inventory only |
| wicked problems | Managing wicked problems: a primer (short article) | Inventory only |
| wicked problems | Wicked Problems & Leadership – Keith Grint (presentation – 23 slides) | Inventory only |
| wicked problems | Dilemmas in a general theory of planning – Rittel and Webber | Inventory only |
| wicked problems | Wicked Solutions: A Systems Approach to Complex Problems – Bob Williams, Sjon van ‘t Hof (short book – 90 pages) Problems/dp/1326512293 | Inventory only |
| wicked problems | Gerald Midgely, with videos | Inventory only |
| intervention skills – additional | The Theory Behind the Practice: A Brief Introduction to the Adaptive Leadership Framework – Ronald Heifetz, Alexander Grashow, and Marty Linsky (long article – 38 pages) | Inventory only |
| intervention skills – additional | Techniques to Match our Values – Marvin Weisbord (journal publication – ten pages) | Inventory only |
| intervention skills – additional | Requiem for Bethlehem - Marvin Weisbord (Journal publication- 6 pages) | Inventory only |
| intervention skills – additional | Let people be responsible – Marvin Weisbord & Sandra Janoff (Journal publication- 5 pages) | Inventory only |
| intervention skills – additional | The Skilled Facilitator: A Comprehensive Resource for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers and Coaches (Jossey-Bass Business & Management) – Roger Schwarz (book – 432 pages) | Inventory only |