@dajb Mike Jackson's ideas were good and still valid but hardly rocket science; more process than systems thinking in the larger scheme of things (systems plural).
Take a look at the history of software version control systems and in particular the story of git and the genius of its author (& ideally the brilliance of the algorithm & it's application) for real (consequential, epic) thinking about systems.
Fred Brooks' Mythical Man Month is an enduring and canonical text of uncommon sense.