THEVOCABULARYOFSYSTEMSTHINKING:APOCKETGUIDEAccumulatorAstructuraltermforanythingthataccumulates.e.g.,waterinabathtub,savingsinabankaccount,currentinventory.intheSTELLAmodelingsoftware,astockisusedasagenericsymbolforanythingthataccumulates.AlsoreferredtoasaStockoraLevel.BalancingProcesswithDelay(Asystemsarchetype).Whenabalancingprocesshasalongdelay,theusualresponseistoovercorrect,leadingtowildswingsinbehaviorsuchasrealestatecycles.BalancingProcess/loopAlongwithreinforcingloops,itformsthebuildingblocksofdynamicsystems.Balancingprocessesseekequilibrium-theytrytobringthingstoadesiredstateandkeepthemthere.Theyalsolimitandconstrain.Abalancingloopdepictsabalancingprocess.BehaviorOverTime(BOT)Diagram(Oneofthetentoolsofsystemsthinking).BOTdiagramscapturethehistoryortrendofoneormorevariablesovertime.Bysketchingthevariablesonthesamegraph,wecangainanexplicitunderstandingofhowtheyinteractovertime.AlsocalledReferenceModes.CausalLoopDiagram(Oneofthetentoolsofsystemsthinking).Causalloopdiagramscapturehowvariablesinasystemareinterrelatedintheformofaclosedloopthatcapturescause-and-effectlinkages.DriftingGoals(Asystemsarchetype).Ina“DriftingGoals”scenario,agradualdownwardslideinperformancegoalsgoesunnoticed.Threateningthelong-termfutureofthesystemororganization.Example:lengtheningdeliverydelays.Escalation(Asystemarchetype).Inthe“Escalation”archetype,twopartiescompeteforsuperiorityinanarena.Asoneparty’sactionsputitahead,theotherparty“retaliates”byincreasingitsactions.Theresultsisacontinualratchetingupofactivityonbothsides.Examples:pricewars,theU.S.-Japantradecompetition.FeedbackThereturnofinformationaboutthestatusofaprocess.Forexample,annualperformancereviewsareawayofreturninginformationtoanemployeeaboutthestatusofhis/herwork.FixesthatFail(AsystemsArchetype).Ina“FixesthatFail”situation,afixisappliedtoaproblemthathasimmediatepositiveresults,buthasunforeseenlong-termconsequencesthateventuallymaketheproblemworse.AlsoknownasFixesthatbackfire.FlowTheamountofchangesomethingundergoesduringaparticularunitoftime.Forexample,theamountofwaterthanflowsoutofatubeachminute,ortheamountofinterestearnedinasavingsaccounteachmonth.AlsocalledaRate.GenericStructuresStructuresthatcanbegeneralizedacrossmanydifferentsettingsbecausetheunderlyingrelationshipsarefundamentallythesameor“generic.”Systemsarchetypescompriseaparticularclassofgenericstructures.GraphicalFunctionDiagram(GFD)(Oneofthetentoolsofsystemsthinking).GFDsshowhowonevariable,suchasdeliverydelays,interactswithanother(suchassales)byplottingtherelationshipbetweenthetwoovertheentirerangeofrelevantvalues.Theresultingdiagramisaconcisehypothesisofhowthetwovariableinterrelate.AlsocalledTableFunctions.GrowthandUnderinvestment(Asystemsarchetype).Inthissituation,resourceinvestmentsinagrowingareaarenotmadeduetoshort-termpressures.Asgrowthbegintostallduetothelackofresources,thereislessincentiveforaddingcapacity,whichfurtherslowsthegrowth.LearningLaboratory(Oneofthetentoolsofsystemsthinking)>Alearninglaboratorytakesamanagementflightsimulatorandembedsitinalearningenvironment.Groupsofmanagersuseacombinationofsystemsthinkingtoolstoexploreindepththedynamicsofaparticularsystemandinquireintotheirownunderstandingofthatsystem.Learninglabsserveasamanager’spracticefield.LevelSeeAccumulator.LeveragePointAnareawheresmallchangecanyieldlargeimprovementsinasystem.Limit...
