Strategy Survival Guide

Reinforcing Loops
A
+
Balancing Loops
+
B
A dominant reinforcing loop is a self-sustaining process that will lead to
either exponential growth or decay. The critical factor is whether the
process is proceeding in the desired direction, as once started the
process will continue unchecked unless an intervention is made to break
the cycle.
The rise and decline of neighbourhoods demonstrates the potentially
beneficial or destructive power of reinforcing feedback loops.
A balancing loop perpetuates the status quo. As one factor
changes, other factors exert a balancing influence to return it to
original level.
This behaviour can either act as barrier to change or a beneficial
stabilising mechanism. To drive change any intervention must be
influential enough to over-ride the balancing effects.
Balancing Loop with a Delay
A
-
+
B
A
+
B
A delay in the influence of a balancing effect can produce oscillatory
behaviour through repeated over compensation. As the balancing
forces act to maintain the status quo, the lack of responsiveness in the
system means that corrective action is excessive and the mark is over
shot.
-
Aggressive or heavy-handed management of such a system will
produce instability. If the system can not be made more responsive the
only option is to take change more slowly.
Reinforcing Loop with Delayed Balance
+
-
A
+
B
C
+
A reinforcing loop with a delayed balancing influence will demonstrate ‘s-curve’ style growth. The reinforcing
loop produces a period of accelerating growth or expansion, which then slows and eventually comes to a halt
under the delayed influence of the balancing effect. A classic learning curve follows this pattern.
Sustained growth can not achieved by simply encouraging the reinforcing process, but must be unlocked by
removing or weakening the balancing influence that is creating the limitation to sustained growth.
Using Systems Thinking
• Work in groups: developing an influence diagram as a group exercise forces everyone to explicitly
list the factors that matter in the system and then decide on the relationships between them.
• Use the influence diagram and tree to identify areas of study at the very beginning of the work and
intermittently thereafter for further direction.
• An influence diagram can include both quantitative and qualitative factors and relationships.
• The tree and influence diagram can be used to inform the construction of quantitative models using
software such as Vensim (free for personal use), ithink or Powersim, which can be used to
Strategy Survival Guide – Strategy Skills
Page 98