The Systems Thinker – A Lifetime of Systems Thinking - The Systems Thinker

you’ll see that what started as a “Fix That Backfired” was in fact a “Shifting the Burden” system. This revealed the need to focus efforts on the fundamental problem-correcting process (the left-hand side of the diagram).

The systems viewpoint is generally oriented toward the long-term view. That’s why delays and feedback loops are so important. In the short term, you can often ignore them; they’re inconsequential. They only come back to haunt you in the long term.

STRATEGIES FOR A “LIMITS TO GROWTH” SITUATION Beware of doing more of what worked in the past. Resist the temptation to invest more heavily in the reinforcing process, rather than trying to understand the balancing process.