MGMT 1000 Lecture 6: Week 6 notes on vicious loops.docx

• School: York University
• Department: Management
• Course: MGMT 1000
• Professor: Jean Adams

Document Summary

People and organizations often get caught in vicious loops where destructive actions lead to even more destructive actions. By recognizing and understanding the patterns, it is often possible to reverse the trends. In the technical terms of learning theory, systems can be been stabilized by: Reducing the strength of positive feedback relationships (reduced intensity) Increasing negative feedback (loops that respond to the positive feedback by moving it in the opposite direction) Thinner lines to signify weaker positive feedback relationships, and broken lines to signify the new negative feedback relationships. These are the two strategies for reducing viciousness. The weaker positive feedback relationships mean that the runaway aspects of the system are not so strong. The negative feedback relationships mean that when the system moves towards its vicious tendencies, it is automatically pushed back in the opposite direction.