One of the fundamental ideas of system thinking is that every action triggers a reaction, typically referred to as feedback. There are two types of feedback - reinforcing feedback and balancing feedback. Sometimes feedback does not happen immediately and the process contains delays. Systems archetypes attempt to visually display feedback loops and patterns of behavior to facilitate understanding.
One common system archetype is called Success To The Successful. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying: "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer." Why is this generally true?
If you examine two entities which are part of a system competing for resources where one entity starts out ahead of the other, you will find that the entity that is ahead will have an easier time getting farther ahead because better performance usually generates more resources which usually generate a greater capacity to improve performance. You have what is called a positive feedback loop.
For example, if you have two businesses that are competing for a loan or a new contract, the business that has a better track record is more likely to get the loan or contact, which further increases their capacity for improving their performance.
In the diagram above A has more resources than B contributing to the success of A. When new resources are allocated, there is a greater chance they will go to A instead of B which contributes to the success of A and takes away from the success of B.
Systems thinking and strategy are related. One of the first things a strategist must do is analyze the situation they are faced with in order to make sense of what is really going on. An important question is whether the observed behavior is naturally expected from the current system, is a result of some unexpected event or is a result of a deliberate strategy. In actuality, most effects have multiple causes and most causes exhibit multiple effects. Outcomes are generally a product of mutual, multiple and reciprocal interactions.
