Creation of a process also creates secondary processes which limit it

A reinforcing (or amplifying) process of growth or improvement inevitably runs up against a balancing (or stabilizing) process which limits the growth, causing the rate of improvement to slow down or come to a standstill.

A reinforcing (amplifying) process is set in motion to produce a desired result. It creates a spiral of success but also creates inadvertent secondary effects (manifested in a balancing process) which eventually slow down the success.^[1]

The immediate tendency is to push harder on the amplifying process, but this only causes the stabilizing process to increase as well. The key is to address the stabilizing process so as to decrease or remove the limiting factor.

But there is another way to deal with limits to growth situations. In each of them, leverage lies in the balancing loop—not the reinforcing loop. To change the behavior of the system, you must identify and change the limiting factor.^[2]

Good leaders recognize that “there will always be more limiting processes. When one source of limitation is removed or made weaker, growth returns until a new source of limitation is encountered. The skillful leader is always focused on the next set of limitations and working to understand their nature and how they can be addressed."^[3]

#systems-thinking

See also:

• Compensating feedback offsets interventions
• Leverage in the right location is more effective than the amount used
• Low-leverage interventions are alluring because they work in the short term