Feedback loops are important as they influence the way we communicate and relate over the time. They help us identify the small changes that can produce significant outcomes, intended or not. This is how systems regulate themselves and interact to have a positive or negative impact on changes inside the system in focus and outside in its environment. The result is what the interactions produce from multiple, unpredicatble effects, neither good nor bad. This makes them dynamic. When the process is stable it can persist in that state as the “agents” in the system adapt to the change to maintain its identity and coherence for mutual benefit. What Peter Senge refers to as “Seasaw Effect.”

Types of Feedback

Living systems operate at a nested levels of organisation, from the microscopic (cells) to the macroscopic (ecosystems or societies). Each level is interconnected, and changes at one level ripple across the system. These interactions are governed by feedback loops, which help systems regulate themselves and adapt to change.

• Positive feedback loops: amplify changes, driving innovation or transformation (e.g., rapid technological advancement).

• Negative feedback loops: stabilise systems, maintaining equilibrium (e.g., in thermostats and predator-prey dynamics in ecosystems).

For example, sSomething like a thermostat would have a negative feedback loop where increases or decreases at a given point maintain a stable state.

Social media is a good example of positive feedback – what economists call “increasing returns” where the feedback amplifies behaviour and growth. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, getting bigger and faster.

When the supply of snow fails to meet the demand from the snowball, it loses energy and it experiences  “decreasing returns”. Negative feedback then helps to stabilise the process back into a state of “equilibrium”. Linear connections produce predictable effects. 

Interconnections

It is the numerous interactions between different feedback loops that can make a system difficult to manage. If the interactions can be identified and their relationships understood, they can be “nudged” to change the rules and produce more useful outcomes. But the system is dynamic and must therefore be under constant review. A lack of consistency suggests the agents in the system are getting poor feedback.

Synthesis is the ability to see interconnectedness. It refers to the combining of two or more things to create something new. When it comes to systems thinking, the goal is synthesis, as opposed to analysis, which is the dissection of complexity into manageable components. Analysis fits into the mechanical and reductionist worldview, where the world is broken down into parts.

But all systems are dynamic and often complex; thus, we need a more holistic approach to understanding phenomena. Synthesis is about understanding the whole and the parts at the same time, along with the relationships and the connections that make up the dynamics of the whole.

Alignment

For participants or agents in a system to align their work they need to report back and build on the results of their actions. This involves aligning the formatting of data so it can be used to inform better decision-making. The final result either reinforces or changes the direction of the system’s purpose and performance.

Listening

What we get from the feedback is not just data. It depends on what we are listening for. The diagram below demonstrates how feedback can be misinterpreted. Different listeners will hear different things and draw different conclusions from the “facts”.

BASED ON THE WORK OF SAMEER DUA in “Declaring Breakdowns’

When there are “amplifying loops” this can exaggerate or expand the data, and lead to further investment of energy. But there are also “breakdown loops” that can lead to biased data or its value being dismissed.

These fluctuations are how a system self-organises to remain viable by adapting to changing conditions. Knowing how to use and influence feedback is an important leadership skill when looking to regenerate it’s impact.

Maintaining some parts of the system whilst innovating others depends on what is triggering the change – internal needs or external demands. The danger here is when feedback signals are ignored or come as a surprise, disrupting the flow of energy in and around the system. It’s then time to listen, observe and reflect to get clarity before taking action.