Why has feedback systems thinking struggled to influence strategy and policy formulation? Suggestive evidence, explanations and solutions

Abstract

Abstract Proponents of system dynamics expound its benefits for understanding and managing complex social systems. However, usage of system dynamics remains low, which questions the true value that policy‐makers gain from the approach as currently delivered. Feedback systems thinking and causal loop diagrams currently dominate the representation of problem situations. Although substantial benefits are claimed for this approach, it embeds serious theoretical and pedagogical flaws, notably by separating the problem behaviour from the structure alleged to cause it, by ignoring scale and timing of behaviour, and by excluding the fundamental and unavoidable properties of asset stock accumulation. Policy‐makers are thus unlikely to be provided with actionable solutions, whether from feedback diagrams alone or from subsequent simulation models, a failure that may have irretrievably alienated a significant fraction of management who have been exposed to system dynamics. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.