> Currently I am a graduate student in Mechanical Engineering at MIT. I
> major in Process Control and minor in Management of Socioeconomic Systems.
> I was first introduced to Systems Thinking through a System Dynamics
> course at MIT when Peter Senge delivered a guest lecture in the class.
> That was the first time I was introduced to the learning organization
> paradigm.
Ben as a student, can you recommend a beginner text on systems theory
that would cover basic cybernetics principles as well. I colleage of
mine wants a basic intro. I like Senge's intro but I find that it
doesn't explain systems theory at all..ie. requisite variety, recursion,
attenuation etc.
So far the best I've seen as a basic intro is_Diagnosing the Sytem for
organizations_ by Stafford Beer as part of the J. Wiley series: The Managerial
Cybernetics of Organization. I like the diagrams on the viable sytems model
in the appendix.
How does MIT introduce systems theory ?
-- Walter Derzko wderzko@epas.utoronto.ca