By tracing these flows of influence we can sometimes see patterns which repeat themselves, making situations better or worse. The two main building blocks of all system representations are reinforcing and balancing feedback loops. A reinforcing loop will always, sooner or later, come up against a limiting or balancing effect. Balancing processes generate resistance, maintain stability and help achieve equilibrium. Delays A delay is an interruption between an action and its consequences.
Delays occur frequently in dynamic systems.
This often results in overshooting a desired outcome. Leverage Sometimes small, well focused actions can produce significant, enduring imporvements - if they are carried out in the right place. This is referred to as leverage . The problem with leverage is that it is often difficult to find. This is because it is usually not close in space and time to the symptoms of the problem.