Become System Thinker
12 weeks · 4 milestones
Milestone map
Milestone map
3 milestones
Identify a real system you interact with — an organisation, a product, a market, a process, an ecosystem — and map its causal structure: the feedback loops, delays, stocks, and flows that produce its behaviour over time. The map must include: at least 2 reinforcing loops (where change amplifies itself), at least 1 balancing loop (where change is resisted or corrected), at least 2 time delays, and at least 1 stock (an accumulation that changes over time). The map must be accompanied by a behaviour-over-time narrative: what pattern does the system produce, and why does the structure produce that pattern?
Proof required
Submit a causal loop diagram (hand-drawn, Kumu, or Loopy) showing the reinforcing loops, balancing loops, delays, and stocks. Label each loop as reinforcing (R) or balancing (B) and give each a name that describes its mechanism. Submit a 300-word behaviour-over-time narrative: what pattern does this system tend to produce, why the reinforcing loop(s) produce that pattern, and where the delays create unexpected behaviours.
What gets checked
- Loop labels are causal, not correlational — 'more sales → more revenue → more marketing → more sales' is correlational if you haven't explained the causal mechanism at each step; 'more sales → more testimonials (R: Social Proof) → more prospect conversion → more sales' shows the mechanism
- Delays are named and quantified where possible — 'delay: hiring takes 3 months' is a named delay; 'delay' alone is not; quantification matters because delays determine whether a system oscillates or reaches equilibrium
- Behaviour-over-time narrative explains a counterintuitive result — the most common early system thinking failure is a narrative that just restates what the diagram shows; the goal is to explain a behaviour that would not be obvious without the diagram