Editor’s note: Donella Meadows’ Leverage Points is a classic reference for those searching to implement change. As she tells it, Meadows was at a conference on global trade when it occurred to her that the participants were going about everything the wrong way. “These nice, liberal folks” were trying to control growth with adjustments that were “way too puny!” She marched up to a flip chart, tossed over a clean page, and wrote a list that later evolved into the twelve leverage points excerpted here. The list has proven influential to leaders across the globe and, by reprinting it, we hope it will help readers effectively address the world’s most pressing problems. Those who would like to read further should consult her Thinking in Systems: A Primer (Chelsea Green, 2008). A Pulitzer Prize nominee and recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius” award, Meadows died in 2001---Joe Roman