Applying Systems Thinking and
Common Archetypes to Organizational Issues

Module 6: Systems Archetypes

Guidelines: Draw Your Own

"Fixes That Backfire"

Instructions: Choose a situation in your own experience that appears to be a "Fix that Backfires." Note key events in the story; graph key variables, then draw the loops.

loop

Use the generic diagram to guide you, remembering that your diagram may have more variables, more links, an external variable, and a link out to or back from the R loop that connects in a different place. You may also find that you have more than one R loop - more than one way that the fix backfires.

  1. To get started, describe the PROBLEM. Make sure your label for the problem is something that changes over time. (Return to rules for naming variables.)
  2. Identify the FIX and close the balancing loop. Be sure that the fix is described as a variable, e.g., "headcount reductions," rather than an event, such as "John is fired."
  3. Add the reinforcing loop. You can identify the backfire by asking what factors are making the problem worse and seeing how these are connected to the fix. You can also work forward and identify actual or potential UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES of the fix.
  4. Check for DELAYS and show them in the diagram. These are usually before or after the unintended consequence. (Some unintended consequences are slow to surface; others appear quickly but don't have an immediate effect on the problem.)
  5. Include your own MENTAL MODELS, beliefs, and assumptions about the thinking and feeling driving the decision to use the fix. If you are not the decision maker, you may need to speculate about the mental models held by others. It might be helpful to note alternatives and see if these are consistent with the story.
  6. Note possible LEVERAGE POINTS and intervention strategies to reduce or eliminate the "backfire."

Check your diagram with your original story.

  • Does your diagram explain that story? If not, what changed? Sometimes the process of diagramming sheds new light on a story, and the story changes. Sometimes, though, in the process of diagramming, it is tempting to force-fit connections that are not true to real life.
  • If you ended up forcing a connection, go back and ask yourself why you think this story is a "Fix That Backfires." Does it fit the theme? Does it fit the pattern over time of a problem that keeps coming back even though it's been "fixed?"
  • If it does, then review the variables and review your cause and effect links. You may find you don't actually have all the information. In that case, you can create a theory about what happened.
  • If your case does not fit the theme and the behavior-over-time graph, go back to the Archetype Family Tree and try another archetype as a template. Remember that you can always begin by identifying reinforcing or balancing feedback in a story and draw the loops as you hear them. An archetype may then emerge from your diagram.