The Complete Guide to Systems Thinking and Learning

P

ROLOGUE

WELTANSCHAUUNG

(German for “Your View of the World”)

First, I’d like you to look at the earth as the astronauts do . . . a 260 mile in space holistic view of

earth as a living planet, floating out in space, with all its major natural characteristics visible. All

of us can’t be astronauts, but we don’t need to be. Instead, we are all able to fly in a helicopter

above the ground. So, I’d like you to visualize getting into a helicopter and climbing up to 2,000

feet. This will help you enormously in understanding systems thinking concepts and this book. It

will give you a better and higher vantage point on life and work, virtually improving your practical

IQ by over 50 points. I will use this helicopter

(H)

analogy throughout to remind you of how to