The Fifth Discipline
Daniel Fugitt
Chapter 6 Identifying the Patterns that Control Events The most important thing to remember when dealing with systems thinking is that certain patterns tend to occur again and again. These “generic structures” embody the key to learning to see structures in our personal and organizational lives. The system archetypes, of which there are only a few, suggest that not all management problems are unique, something that experienced managers know well. These small number of generic structures are common in a large number of management situations. The generic structures show a massive amount of simplicity underlying many complex management situations There are two major types of generic structures or system archetypes. Archetype One – Limits to Growth ■ This system is a reinforcing process that is set in motion to produce a desired result. It creates a spiral of success but also creates inadvertent secondary affects which eventually slows down the success. The management principle behind this is “don't push growth, remove the factors that limit growth”. Archetype Two – Shifting the Burden ■ An underlying problem generates symptoms that demand attention. But, the underlying problem is difficult for people to address, either because it is obscure or costly to confront. So people “shift the burden” of their problem to other solutions – well-intentioned, easy fixes which seem extremely efficient. Unfortunately, the easier “solutions” only ameliorate the symptoms; they leave the underlying problem unaltered. The underlying problem grows worse, unnoticed because the symptoms apparently clear up, and the system loses whatever abilities it had to solve the underlying problem. The management principle behind this is beware the symptomatic solution. Solutions thats address only the symptom of a problem, not fundamental causes, tend to have short-term benefits at best. Chapter 7 Self limiting or self sustaining growth Societies non-systemic way of thinking consistently leads people to focus on low-leverage changes. Often people don't focus on causes, but on symptoms. Fixing this symptoms are a short term fix at best. Mastering basic archetypes as growth and underinvestment is the first step in developing the capability of seeing both symptoms and causes. By seeing both, you can respond to the challenge of complexity and change. Mastering the language of systems thinking also requires the other complementary learning disciplines. Each contributes to each other. ]