November 14, 2025

Systems Thinking: How to understand the deeper reality of the world around us

33 minutes

Most problems in the world aren't random accidents, they're built into the systems we live in. When we look closer we find systems all around us drive the currents that change the world.

Systems Thinking is a key idea in science, politics and business, but it knows no boundaries as systems show up everywhere.

In every era of humanity we created new systems in politics, law, technology and economics to deal with the problems of the day. As new challenges arise in the 21st century, from the future of AI to global politics, it is up to humanity to build new systems to overcome them.

Systems thinking invites us to discover the threads that bind our actions, cultures, and destinies into unexpected tapestries:

Stop firefighting and get to the root cause.

Search for leverage points where small acts create outsized impact.

Reframe crisis from an isolated disaster to an interconnected opportunity.

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CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro to systems thinking

01:53 Systems and Families

03:35 Welcome

05:12 What is a System

08:27 ACT 1 - 4 ELEMENTS OF A SYSTEM

08:27 Stocks and Flows

09:56 Feedback Loops

11:46 Delays

12:57 Boundaries

14:27 ACT 2 - MANAGING SYSTEMS

14:35 Leverage Points

21:27 ACT 3

21:52 Resilience in systems

23:44 Self-Organisation

25:00 Hierarchies

27:35 ACT 4 - LOOKING AT TODAY

28:40 Wrap up

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By Sam Webster Harris | Growth Mindset Psychology

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