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The systems thinking process involves building new collaborative understandings
of the interplay of forces at work. To accomplish this, participants use
"archetypes:" images of common systemic situations. Each of these patterns occurs
in a wide variety of domains, from ecology to economics to manufacturing;
each offers its own strategic insights, and gives people a better picture of how
the forces of the system may trap them. |
System dynamics researchers have published descriptions
of about
a dozen archetypes. They include "Limits to Growth," in which a seemingly
boundless growth pattern runs up against unexpected limiting forces. (Total
quality campaigns, for example, run up against institutional disappointment
after the "low-hanging fruit" is picked.) In another archetype, "Shifting the
Burden," a more immediately inviting, short-term solution to a problem weakens
the system's ability to develop a more fundamental, but slower, approach.
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Another archetype, the "Tragedy of the Commons," became
the basis
for the Epsilon team's "Tragedy of the Power Supply" (described later).
Compared to computer models of systems, archetypes are simplistic; they have
been compared to "training wheels." But in well-designed group workshops,
they can lead to very sophisticated collective understandings of common problems.
Because archetypes imply counter-intuitive, but effective, alternatives for
action, they are generally very useful strategic tools. |
