What are systems?

I write about various forms of systems thinking, perhaps most often system dynamics, here. Some might wonder what "systems" are.

The Ackoff Center Weblog has just posted Russell Ackoff's 1971 Towards A System of Systems Concepts. If you're in the mood to think about systems from a general viewpoint, you might just enjoy this. By the end, you'll have Ackoff's explanation of the difference between an organization and an organism.