Feedback Thinking derives its name from a concept at the heart of Systems Dynamics, the feedback loop. These are diagrams used to create structure in complex systems. Similarly, the Feedback Thinking Project is being designed as framework to reduce the complexity of innovation so that we can better understand our path to the future.
Systems Dynamics was developed in the 1950s as a way to use computers to manage complex corporate and industrial policy analysis. Essentially, how do you take multiple, interdependent actions or events, combine them, and anticipate the outcome. It has since broadened to encompass, “any dynamic systems characterized by interdependence, mutual interaction, information feedback, and circular causality.”
A feedback loop occurs when information travels through the system and eventually returns to its origin, reinforcing the initial action. The development of self-driving cars eventually return to the core objective of being people movers, (as a bad example from a physical environment).
The name also doubles as a way to explain the importance of incorporating feedback in any major change management exercise. Pivotal to the success of the Feedback Thinking project are your ideas on how to bring about positive change.
The field of Systems Dynamics was first developed by Jay W. Forrester at MIT Sloan. Learn more about it here.
Image Source: System Dynamics Research Centre for Latin America
