Jun 272016
 

“The Language of Systems Thinking – Links and Loops”

by Michael Goodman, Jennifer Kemeny, Charlotte Roberts (The Society for Organizational Learning)

    • In systems thinking, every picture tells a story. From any element in a situation (or “variable”), you can trace arrows (“links”) that represent influence on another element. These, in turn, reveal cycles that repeat themselves, time after time, making situations better or worse.
    • But links never exist in isolation. They always comprise a circle of causality, a feedback “loop,” in which every element is both “cause” and “effect” influenced by some, and influencing others, so that every one of its effects, sooner or later, comes back to roost.

“Wikipedia – Holistic Management (ag)”
Framework:  The holistic management decision-making framework uses six key steps to guide the management of resources

  • #6. Monitor proactively, before your managed system becomes more imbalanced. This way the manager can take adaptive corrective action quickly, before the ecosystem services are lost. Always assume your plan is less than perfect and use a feedback loop that includes monitoring for the earliest signs of failure, adjusting and re-planning as needed. In other words use a “canary in a coal mine” adaptive approach.

“Permaculture and Economics”  2015 by Nandor,  Permaculture in New Zealand website

  • A permaculture economy would self consciously build in feedback loops and pay attention to those already existing. One of the feedback loops that has been systematically removed from the current economic model is the true cost of doing business.
     

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