Responsible
Organising
Radboud university – Thinking in systems –
D.H. Meadows – 15-04-2020
,Chapter 1 The Basics
A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves
something. A system must consists of 3 things: elements, interconnects and a function or purpose.
A football team is a system with elements such as players, coach, field, and ball. Its interconnections
are the rules of the game, the coach’s strategy, the players communication and the laws of physics
that govern the motion of the ball and the players. The purpose of the team is to win games, or have
fun, or exercise, or make a million dollars of all of it.
You can see that there is an integrity or wholeness about a system and an active set of mechanisms
to maintain that integrity. A system is more than the sum of its parts. It may exhibit adaptive,
dynamic, goal-seeking, self-persevering, and sometimes evolutionary behaviour.
Look beyond the player to the rules of the game
You think that because you understand “one” that you must therefore understand “two” because one
and one makes two. But you forget that you must also understand “and”.
The elements of a system are often the easiest parts to notice, because many of them are visible,
tangible things. The system called a university is made up of buildings, students, professors and so
on. Elements do not have to be physical things. Intangibles are also elements of a system.
First we look at the interactions, the relationships that holds elements together; In the university
system, interconnections include the standards for admission, the requirements for degrees, the
examinations and grades and most important the communication of knowledge, which is the
purpose of the whole system. Many of the interconnections in systems operate through flow of
information. Information holds systems together and plays a great role in determining how they
operate.
A systems function or purpose is not necessarily spoken out or written. The best way to deduce the
systems purpose is to watch for a while to see how the system behave. Purposes are deduced from
behaviour, not from rhetoric or stated goals. Function is used for a non-human system. Purpose is
used for a human system, though these two might intervene. Systems can be nested within systems,
therefore, there can be purposes within a purpose.
You can understand the relative importance of a system’s elements, interconnections and purposes
by imagining them changed one by one. Changing elements usually has the least effect on the
system. However the change in interconnections or purpose is mostly drastic. The least obvious part
of the system, it’s function or purpose, is often the most crucial determinant of the systems
behaviour. Changing interconnections usually changes the systems behaviour.
Bathtub 101 – understanding system behaviour over time
A stock is the foundation of any system. Stocks are the elements of the system that can see, feel,
count, or measure at any given time. A stock however does not need to be physical. Stocks change
over time through the actions of a flow. Flows are filling and draining, for example birth and deaths.
A stock is the memory of the history of changing flows within the system.
D. Folmer
1
,Imagine a bathtub filled with water, with its drain plugged up and its faucets turned off, an
unchanging, undynamic, boring system.
1) Now mentally pull the plug. The water runs out, of course. The level in the water in the tub goes
down until the tub is empty. As you can see in the left image. 2) Now imagine starting again with a
full tub, again open the drain, but this time when the tub is about half empty, you start the faucet
and the inflow will be the same as the outflow. The amount of water stays constant, it is in a state of
dynamic equilibrium, its level does not change and the inflow and outflow are the same. As you can
see in the midst image. 3) Now imagine turning the inflow on somewhat harder while keeping the
outflow constant. The level of water in the tub slowly rises. If you then turn the inflow faucet down
again to match the outflow exactly, the water in the will stop rising. As you can see in the image on
the right.
All models are simplifications of the real world. You now know all the dynamic possibilities of this
bathtub. From this you can deduce several important principles that extend to more complicated
systems.
1. As long as the sum of all inflow exceeds the sum of all outflow, the level of stock will rise.
2. As long as the sum of all outflow exceeds the sum of all inflows, the level of the stock will fall.
3. If the sum of all outflows equals the sum of all inflows, the stock level will not change; it will
be held in dynamic equilibrium at whatever level it happened to be when the two sets of
flows became equal.
A stock takes time to change, because flows take time to flow. That’s a vital point, a key to
understanding why systems behave as they do. Stocks generally change slowly, even when the flows
into or out of them change suddenly. Therefore, stocks act as delays or buffers or shock absorbers
in systems. Stocks allow inflows and outflows to be decoupled and to be independent and
temporarily out of balance with each other. Most individual and institutional decisions are designed
to regulate the levels in stocks. For example; If inventories rise too high, then prices are cut or
advertising budgets are increased, so that sales will go up and inventories will fall down.
How the systems runs itself – Feedback
If you see a behaviour that persists over time, there likely is a mechanism creating that consistent
behaviour. That mechanism creates through a feedback loop. It is the consistent behaviour pattern
over a long period of time that is the first hint of the existence of a feedback loop. A feedback loop is
formed when changes in a stock affect the flows into or out of the same stock. A feedback loop is a
closed chain of causal connections from a stock, through a set of decisions or rules or physical laws or
actions that are dependent on the level of the stock, and back again through a flow to change the
stock.
D. Folmer
2
, Stabilizing loops – balancing feedback
Feedback loops often can operate in two directions. A kind of stabilizing, goal-seeking regulating loop
is called a balancing feedback loop, so I put a B or – inside the loop of the diagram. Balancing loops
are goal-seeking or stability-seeking structures in systems and are both sources of stability and
sources of resistance to change. Each tries to keep a stock at a given value or within a range of
values.
As you can see in the graph on the right, the coffee
temperature will fall down or rise, depending on the kind of
coffee. The feedback loop brings it towards the goal. The
change is faster at first, and then slower as the discrepancy
between the stock and the goal decreases. The presence of a
feedback mechanism doesn’t mean that it works well, every
aspect can fail for many reasons.
Runaway loops – Reinforcing feedback
Reinforcing feedback loops are self-enhancing, leading to exponential growth or to runaway
collapses over time. They are found whenever a stock has the capacity to reinforce or reproduce
itself. This loop will be denoted with an R or + in the diagram. It generates more input to a stock that
is already there, or less. A reinforcing feedback loop enhances whatever direction of change is
imposed on it.
Remember the interest-bearing bank account? The
more money you have in the bank, the more interest
you earn, which is added to the money already in the
bank, where it earns even more interest. You can also
see that in the graph down below with different
percentages of interest. It is not linear growth, it is
exponential growth
Eventually you will not be thinking in term of a static world, but a dynamic one. You will stop looking
for who is to blame, but instead start asking what is the system?
D. Folmer
3
Organising
Radboud university – Thinking in systems –
D.H. Meadows – 15-04-2020
,Chapter 1 The Basics
A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves
something. A system must consists of 3 things: elements, interconnects and a function or purpose.
A football team is a system with elements such as players, coach, field, and ball. Its interconnections
are the rules of the game, the coach’s strategy, the players communication and the laws of physics
that govern the motion of the ball and the players. The purpose of the team is to win games, or have
fun, or exercise, or make a million dollars of all of it.
You can see that there is an integrity or wholeness about a system and an active set of mechanisms
to maintain that integrity. A system is more than the sum of its parts. It may exhibit adaptive,
dynamic, goal-seeking, self-persevering, and sometimes evolutionary behaviour.
Look beyond the player to the rules of the game
You think that because you understand “one” that you must therefore understand “two” because one
and one makes two. But you forget that you must also understand “and”.
The elements of a system are often the easiest parts to notice, because many of them are visible,
tangible things. The system called a university is made up of buildings, students, professors and so
on. Elements do not have to be physical things. Intangibles are also elements of a system.
First we look at the interactions, the relationships that holds elements together; In the university
system, interconnections include the standards for admission, the requirements for degrees, the
examinations and grades and most important the communication of knowledge, which is the
purpose of the whole system. Many of the interconnections in systems operate through flow of
information. Information holds systems together and plays a great role in determining how they
operate.
A systems function or purpose is not necessarily spoken out or written. The best way to deduce the
systems purpose is to watch for a while to see how the system behave. Purposes are deduced from
behaviour, not from rhetoric or stated goals. Function is used for a non-human system. Purpose is
used for a human system, though these two might intervene. Systems can be nested within systems,
therefore, there can be purposes within a purpose.
You can understand the relative importance of a system’s elements, interconnections and purposes
by imagining them changed one by one. Changing elements usually has the least effect on the
system. However the change in interconnections or purpose is mostly drastic. The least obvious part
of the system, it’s function or purpose, is often the most crucial determinant of the systems
behaviour. Changing interconnections usually changes the systems behaviour.
Bathtub 101 – understanding system behaviour over time
A stock is the foundation of any system. Stocks are the elements of the system that can see, feel,
count, or measure at any given time. A stock however does not need to be physical. Stocks change
over time through the actions of a flow. Flows are filling and draining, for example birth and deaths.
A stock is the memory of the history of changing flows within the system.
D. Folmer
1
,Imagine a bathtub filled with water, with its drain plugged up and its faucets turned off, an
unchanging, undynamic, boring system.
1) Now mentally pull the plug. The water runs out, of course. The level in the water in the tub goes
down until the tub is empty. As you can see in the left image. 2) Now imagine starting again with a
full tub, again open the drain, but this time when the tub is about half empty, you start the faucet
and the inflow will be the same as the outflow. The amount of water stays constant, it is in a state of
dynamic equilibrium, its level does not change and the inflow and outflow are the same. As you can
see in the midst image. 3) Now imagine turning the inflow on somewhat harder while keeping the
outflow constant. The level of water in the tub slowly rises. If you then turn the inflow faucet down
again to match the outflow exactly, the water in the will stop rising. As you can see in the image on
the right.
All models are simplifications of the real world. You now know all the dynamic possibilities of this
bathtub. From this you can deduce several important principles that extend to more complicated
systems.
1. As long as the sum of all inflow exceeds the sum of all outflow, the level of stock will rise.
2. As long as the sum of all outflow exceeds the sum of all inflows, the level of the stock will fall.
3. If the sum of all outflows equals the sum of all inflows, the stock level will not change; it will
be held in dynamic equilibrium at whatever level it happened to be when the two sets of
flows became equal.
A stock takes time to change, because flows take time to flow. That’s a vital point, a key to
understanding why systems behave as they do. Stocks generally change slowly, even when the flows
into or out of them change suddenly. Therefore, stocks act as delays or buffers or shock absorbers
in systems. Stocks allow inflows and outflows to be decoupled and to be independent and
temporarily out of balance with each other. Most individual and institutional decisions are designed
to regulate the levels in stocks. For example; If inventories rise too high, then prices are cut or
advertising budgets are increased, so that sales will go up and inventories will fall down.
How the systems runs itself – Feedback
If you see a behaviour that persists over time, there likely is a mechanism creating that consistent
behaviour. That mechanism creates through a feedback loop. It is the consistent behaviour pattern
over a long period of time that is the first hint of the existence of a feedback loop. A feedback loop is
formed when changes in a stock affect the flows into or out of the same stock. A feedback loop is a
closed chain of causal connections from a stock, through a set of decisions or rules or physical laws or
actions that are dependent on the level of the stock, and back again through a flow to change the
stock.
D. Folmer
2
, Stabilizing loops – balancing feedback
Feedback loops often can operate in two directions. A kind of stabilizing, goal-seeking regulating loop
is called a balancing feedback loop, so I put a B or – inside the loop of the diagram. Balancing loops
are goal-seeking or stability-seeking structures in systems and are both sources of stability and
sources of resistance to change. Each tries to keep a stock at a given value or within a range of
values.
As you can see in the graph on the right, the coffee
temperature will fall down or rise, depending on the kind of
coffee. The feedback loop brings it towards the goal. The
change is faster at first, and then slower as the discrepancy
between the stock and the goal decreases. The presence of a
feedback mechanism doesn’t mean that it works well, every
aspect can fail for many reasons.
Runaway loops – Reinforcing feedback
Reinforcing feedback loops are self-enhancing, leading to exponential growth or to runaway
collapses over time. They are found whenever a stock has the capacity to reinforce or reproduce
itself. This loop will be denoted with an R or + in the diagram. It generates more input to a stock that
is already there, or less. A reinforcing feedback loop enhances whatever direction of change is
imposed on it.
Remember the interest-bearing bank account? The
more money you have in the bank, the more interest
you earn, which is added to the money already in the
bank, where it earns even more interest. You can also
see that in the graph down below with different
percentages of interest. It is not linear growth, it is
exponential growth
Eventually you will not be thinking in term of a static world, but a dynamic one. You will stop looking
for who is to blame, but instead start asking what is the system?
D. Folmer
3
