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All 16 learnings · one per slide
Thinking
in Systems
Donella H. Meadows, in bytes
16 key learnings on how systems behave, and where to intervene.
16 learnings · ~40 sec eachSwipe →
Library / Big Ideas & History / Thinking in Systems
Thinking in Systems, in bytes
16 key learnings from Donella Meadows's primer on systems thinking: stocks, flows, feedback loops and leverage points. Each takes about 40 seconds to read. Swipe, use the arrows, or your keyboard.
Thinking
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Learning 1 · Chapter 1
What Is a System?
The idea
A system is a set of elements interconnected in a way that achieves something: elements, interconnections and a purpose.
Example
A football team, a forest or a company.
Takeaway
The purpose often matters more than the parts.
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Learning 2 · Chapter 1
Stocks and Flows
The idea
Stocks are amounts that build up; flows fill or drain them.
Example
A bathtub's water level depends on the tap and the drain.
Takeaway
Stocks change slowly, which creates delays.
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Learning 3 · Chapter 1
Balancing Loops
The idea
Balancing feedback loops push a system towards a goal or stability.
Example
A thermostat turns heating on and off to keep a room warm.
Takeaway
Balancing loops resist change.
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Learning 4 · Chapter 1
Reinforcing Loops
The idea
Reinforcing loops amplify change, causing growth or collapse.
Example
Interest on savings earns more interest; population growth produces more births.
Takeaway
Reinforcing loops create exponential change.
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Learning 5 · Chapter 2
Delays Cause Oscillation
The idea
Delays in feedback make systems overshoot and swing.
Example
A car dealer reacting to sales with delays creates inventory swings.
Try this
Look for delays before reacting harder.
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Learning 6 · Chapter 3
Resilience
The idea
Resilient systems can recover from shocks, thanks to multiple feedback loops.
Example
A diverse ecosystem survives a disease better than a monoculture.
Takeaway
Don't trade resilience for efficiency.
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Learning 7 · Chapter 3
Self-Organisation and Hierarchy
The idea
Systems can organise themselves and build hierarchies that serve their parts.
Example
Cells form organs; organs form bodies.
Takeaway
Good hierarchies serve the parts below.
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Learning 8 · Chapter 4
Why Systems Surprise Us
The idea
We see events, not the system structure that causes them. Bounded rationality, delays and non-linearities surprise us.
Example
Fishermen each acting rationally can collapse a fishery.
Takeaway
Look for structure behind events.
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Learning 9 · Chapter 5
Trap: Policy Resistance
The idea
When actors pull a system towards different goals, policies fail.
Example
Drug crackdowns raise prices and attract more suppliers.
Way out
Find a goal everyone can share.
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Learning 10 · Chapter 5
Trap: Tragedy of the Commons
The idea
Shared resources get overused when each user gains individually.
Example
Overgrazing on common land.
Way out
Educate, privatise or regulate access.
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Learning 11 · Chapter 5
Trap: Drift to Low Performance
The idea
When standards depend on past performance, they slide down.
Example
Accepting a little worse each year until it's normal.
Way out
Keep absolute standards.
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Learning 12 · Chapter 5
Trap: Escalation and Success to the Successful
The idea
Rivals can escalate endlessly, and winners can gain the means to keep winning.
Example
Arms races; the board game Monopoly.
Way out
Negotiate disarmament; level the playing field.
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Learning 13 · Chapter 5
Trap: Shifting the Burden
The idea
Quick fixes can weaken a system's own ability to solve its problems, creating dependence.
Example
Addiction to a painkiller rather than treating the cause.
Way out
Strengthen the system's own capacity.
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Learning 14 · Chapter 5
Trap: Seeking the Wrong Goal
The idea
Systems deliver what they measure, even when it's not what we really want.
Example
GNP measures output, not well-being.
Takeaway
Choose measures carefully.
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Learning 15 · Chapter 6
Leverage Points
The idea
Meadows lists twelve places to intervene. Changing numbers is weakest; changing goals and paradigms is strongest.
Example
Changing a company's goal shifts everything beneath it.
Takeaway
Look for the high-leverage change.
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Learning 16 · Chapter 7
Living in a World of Systems
The idea
Meadows offers guidelines: get the beat of the system, expose your mental models, honour information and stay humble.
Example
Watching how a system behaves before trying to fix it.
Reflect
What system are you part of that you could understand better?
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All 16 learnings complete
That’s all 16 learnings.
Problems often come from the system, not the people. What feedback loop shapes your situation?
Abhay Kumar JaiswalFCA · PMP® · Workday Financeabhayjaiswal.com
Summaries in my own words. Read the book for the full stories.
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Summaries are written in my own words for learning. Read Thinking in Systems by Donella H. Meadows (2008) for the full stories. More Books in Bytes