In the last month, I was reading the Thinking in Systems book. It’s a good book that clarify some ideas about how to sistematically think in how systems works and the “rational” behind it.
Around the complexity of an entire system. A system can be defined as a network structure connecting pieces that will produces one or more things from it.
One of the core aspects of a system is feedback loop. Everything can cause a feedback loop, and every action can produce a feedback on the system or another system.
A feedback loop is the source of a side-effect that impacts in some change around an aspect of your system. The output of the system can generate a positive or a negative response, this is the feedback of your action. Giving that response, you can use it against your system as the new input, then you validate the new hypothesis and iterate over them. This is what we call the feedback loop.
Thinking that everything that you do is a part of a system, it will help you to identify a set of feedback loops around your actions. But, why is important to have this conscioussness around what you’re doing?
Identify the effects of your actions and their responses is a cheaper way to iterate with a clearer idea of your goal. After the feedback, you can adjust your mental model and identify if you’re closer to your goal.
Iterate faster over your feedback loops give you advantages, more iterations over your loops give you:
- A better understand about where you are. If you’re reaching your goal;
- A clearer understading around the rules of your system and the path that let you reach where you are;
More iterations implies in a better understading of the system. A more accurate mental model.
See what are the feedback loops around what you are doing.