Some Basic Concepts in System Dynamics - Creative Learning ...

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- 6 - D-4894InformationaboutproblemClosed-loop Structureof the WorldActionFigure 2ResultA-4293JWF34However, a far morerealistic perception would beFigure 2 in which a problemleads to action that produces aresult that creates futureproblems and actions. There isno beginning or end.We live in a complex of nestedfeedback loops. Every action,every change in nature, is setwithin a network of feedbackloops. Feedback loops are thestructures within which allchanges occur.JWF35Filling a glass of water isnot merely a matter of waterflowing into the glass. There is acontrol of how much water. Thatcontrol is the feedback loop fromwater level to eye to hand tofaucet to water flow and back towater level. Such closed loopscontrol all action everywhere.Figure 3
D-4894 - 7 -1.2. Simplest Feedback LoopFigure 4 shows the simplest possiblefeedback system. In the figure are twosymbols—a stock, and a flow. The stockis an accumulation, or integration, or level,to choose terminology from differentfields. The flow changes the amount in thestock. The flow is determined by astatement that tells how the flow iscontrolled by the value of the stock incomparison to a goal. All systems,everywhere, consist of these two kinds ofconcepts—stocks and flows—and noneother. Such a statement, that there two andonly two kinds of variables in a system, ispowerful in simplifying our view of theworld. People familiar with accountingstatements, as in annual reports ofcorporations, will recognize the twoFigure 4classes of variables. A financial report ispresented on two different pages—thebalance sheet and the profit and loss statement. All numbers on the balance sheetare stocks representing accumulations that have evolved over time. The profit andloss statement represents the flows that cause the stocks to change. There is nocomparably important third page, only the page representing stocks and the pagerepresenting flows. That structure of an accounting statement represents afundamental truth about all systems. Water in a bathtub is a stock; the flow ofwater changes the stock. A person’s reputation is a stock that is changed by theflow of good and bad actions by that person. The degree of frustration in a groupis a stock that gradually changes in response to surrounding pressures.2. FROM SIMPLE TO COMPLEX SYSTEMSThe basic feedback loop in Figure 4 is too simple to represent real-worldsituations. But simple loops have more serious shortcomings—they are misleadingand teach the wrong lessons. Most of our intuitive learning comes from verysimple systems. The truths learned from simple systems are often completely
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