Why This Book? Why Now?
Originally published in our newsletter.
Someone recently asked us, “Why this book? Why now?”
It’s a great question. We’ve known each other since 2010 when Joel was instrumental in bringing me in to work with his employer at the time. We kept loosely in touch, but writing a book together wasn’t on our respective bingo cards even three years ago.
Joel had been developing a systems thinking workshop. He saw the way organizations struggled when people with the best intentions try to control a system with linear cause-effect thinking.
At the same time, I had been building a simulation showing the effects of decisions on overall software delivery. I wanted a way to help leaders explore the consequences of decisions in seconds rather than months.
When Joel saw a video that I posted about the simulation, he reached out to ask if he could use it in his workshop. I was thrilled for my passion project to have found a purpose and immediately agreed. That led to us co-developing a new version of Joel’s systems thinking workshop around the simulation.
Our work co-developing the class showed us that for many, systems thinking felt abstract. As we developed more exercises and ways to explain the concepts, people told us that for the first time systems thinking felt more concrete and approachable. The book was a natural extension of the class, enabling us to help even more people use these tools to make sense of what is happening in their organization, make better decisions, and shape their context.
It took us two years from the time we said “this might be a book…” to the time we turned the final manuscript in to IT Revolution. We didn’t plan the timing: It was sheer luck that we finished the book just as our industry is in a state of upheaval, making systems thinking tools more important than ever before.
We hope you find the book helpful in understanding your context, reasoning about the influences within your system, and helping others see what you see.