Day 4 (15m)
Leverage Points
The rest of this course will examine leverage points for changing a system. Just like a lever allows you to lift a bigger load with less force, these metaphorical levers allow you to produce bigger change by strategically targeting where and how you apply your effort. We'll start with the least effective at #12, then count down to #1.
Leverage Points 12-7
#12: Numbers: Constants and parameters such as subsidies, taxes, and standards
Does a 10% off sale make you buy something? What about 25% ... 50%? Changing the numbers does nothing to change the structure of the system, but sometimes you can find the magic number that produces a 'tipping point' to get the change you want.
#11: Buffers: The sizes of stabilizing stocks and relative flows
Go back and look at your diagram from yesterday. Would making any of those stocks bigger or smaller change the outcomes of the system? If you constantly find yourself going to the grocery store, a bigger refrigerator could help.
#10: Stock-and-Flow Structures: Physical systems and their nodes of intersection
Looking at your diagram again, can you add any new inflows, outflows, or stocks?
#9: Delays: The lengths of time relative to the rates of system changes
People who invest money for 30 years in the stock market before taking out their money get very different results than day traders who buy and sell stocks hundreds of times a day.
#8: Balancing Feedback Loops: The strength of the feedbacks relative to the impacts they are trying to correct
Can you add something that would monitor and "self-correct" the level of a stock by automatically responding with adjustments to inflows or outflows? The same wildfire that destroys a forest releases dormant seeds and starts a new forest.
#7: Reinforcing Feedback Loops: The strength of the gain of driving loops
Like a snowball rolling downhill, these loops produce more and more change. Unchecked, a pair of bunnies can turn into over a 1,000 in a couple years. Better schools produce better students who become better teachers (or, sadly, the inverse).
The below clip talks about the race to the bottom of ground water resources in California. As you listen, consider:
Why is it completely logical and reasonable for the farmer to grow water-hungry crops during a historic drought?
How does planting more water-hungry crops create a loop that leads to more-and-more water consumption?
What is a reinforcing feedback loop you could create to help with your problem? How would the loop lead to better and better outcomes in the system?