{"id":2001,"date":"2012-09-04T19:28:43","date_gmt":"2012-09-05T00:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.synapse9.com\/signals\/?p=2001"},"modified":"2015-02-20T12:39:11","modified_gmt":"2015-02-20T17:39:11","slug":"principles-for-responding-to-overload","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/principles-for-responding-to-overload\/","title":{"rendered":"Principles for detecting and responding to system overload"},"content":{"rendered":"

On now to recognize the somewhat universal responses to system and relationship overload, as strains resulting in loss of resilience and a risk of sudden disruption; replying to Helene on <\/a><\/em>Systems Thinking World<\/a> on her\u00a0“UN Call for Revolutionary Thinking” thread. <\/em><\/p>\n

The most general pattern is resilient relationships becoming rigid, like the surface of a balloon does *before<\/strong>* it can be easily pricked by a pin, or as people become rigid before losing patience. \u00a0I think that comes directly from resilient systems generally being organized as networks of things that share their resources, and when all the parts run out of spare capacities to share at once the system can\u2019t be flexible, and is then vulnerable to sudden failure.<\/em><\/p>\n

_________<\/em><\/p>\n

@Helene \u2013 Thanks for the reminder. Here are some principles for detecting and responding to the inflection point. Mathematically it\u2019s \u201cpassing it\u2019s point of diminishing returns\u201d<\/strong>, when increasing benefit of expansion starts to decrease. Long successful habits of expanding a system become a liability, and strain their internal parts and environments.<\/p>\n

It means about the same thing for a whole economy as for a little girl outgrowing her only party dress. Ignoring strain on one\u2019s limits brings an unexpected end to the parties. The problem for systems operated by abstract rules of thinking, is that responding to change isn\u2019t in the rules. So there\u2019s a need to revive common metaphors for responding to the unknown, like for \u201coverdoing it\u201d or \u201ccrossing the line\u201d<\/strong>, as strategic signs of externalities needing close examination.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Overload is a surprisingly common feeling, with visible effects<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The most common signs of \u201coverdoing it\u201d, and needing new strategy, are\u00a0formerly stable and flexible sub-systems<\/p>\n

becoming “unresponsive”,
\ndeveloping \u201cthe shakes\u201d or \u201cbecome rigid\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

When we sense someone in our personal lives starting to hesitate in responding to us, it\u2019s a sign something\u2019s wrong. It really pays to quickly respond to find out what the disturbance is. It could be a hundred things, some incidental others real threats or real gifts of insight . All parts of all systems have limits of responsiveness, and pushing them too far is generally visible as changes in the timing of things. You can be asking an old friend for too many favors. You might be pushing your luck trusting an enemy in making secret deals to keep the peace. What alerts you to it in personal matters is your \u201cwhole system awareness\u201d. It sets off alarms for \u201cwarning patterns\u201d, often hesitations, that turn up. The same applies to other kinds of complex systems of relationships.<\/p>\n

So you become sensitive to looking for the hidden sub-systems causing it<\/strong>. They are what lead to the instability of the whole if not responded to. Like when going too fast the steering of your car becomes erratic. It\u2019s the steering sub-system becoming unresponsive that does it. It\u2019s small steering errors that self-amplify to produce \u201cfish tailing\u201d too. It\u2019s also sub-systems becoming unresponsive when inflating a balloon, pushes it to and then past its limit of elasticity. Then the fabric of the balloon fails, bursting destructively at some totally unpredictable point. For formerly stable and flexible sub-systems to develop either \u201cthe shakes\u201d or \u201cbecome rigid\u201d, is probably the two most common sign of \u201coverdoing it\u201d and a need for new strategy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

From an economic viewpoint the accelerator of the system is self-investment, using profits to multiply resource use. It relieves internal and external strains to switch from investing in your own expansion (and consuming your host) to investing in your own maturation (and integrating with its host as a partner). It\u2019s generally *the earliest possible time* to anticipate the waves of \u201cemerging externalities\u201d in \u201coverdoing it\u201d that lets growth climax at the system\u2019s peak of vitality. So its recognizing the approach of relentlessly swelling environmental issues that is the signal to watch for, as many people increasingly did starting at the turn of the 19th century.<\/p>\n

Today we\u2019re recognizing the systemic eruption of complications, conflicts, as well as constraints\u2026 undermining both current and future investments as well as all past investments. Just as to keep the business profitable as it saturates its markets, it calls for a total change in investment strategy, to using the resources for development to secure our future instead of for counterproductive efforts to grow. It ends their immature growth to begin maturing toward the \u2018adult\u2019 stage of development at the beginning of their lives.<\/p>\n

I have a collection of related short discussions on natural system models for economics on my blog at:\u00a0http:\/\/www.synapse9.com\/signals\/category\/econn\/<\/a> or last year\u2019s most popular ones\u00a0http:\/\/www.synapse9.com\/signals\/all-time-top-22-posts-mar-2011\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Search my site for:<\/p>\n

blind spots<\/a>, overload<\/a>, confusion<\/a>, back fire<\/a>, functional fixity<\/a>, complication<\/a><\/p>\n

jlh<\/p>\n

__________<\/p>\n

Also from recent emails.<\/p>\n

9\/1\/12 to Jim Kunstler – \u00a0a curious\u00a0asymmetry in defining problems & solutions – <\/strong>One of the things I\u2019ve found most curious about the staggering intellectual failures is a curious asymmetry. Their problem analysis is often brilliant, demonstrating rigorous attention to detail, but their solution proposals are to quickly throw some kind of \u201cHail Mary pass\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For example they all see we\u2019re running out of stuff and that there are tipping points being approached.\u00a0\u00a0 Then they leap at the urban myth that efficiency would reduce consumption and impacts, even though there\u2019s almost no other claim easier to disprove given the clear ratio of 2.5:1 between the \u201cbackfire\u201d and \u201cconservation\u201d effects of economic efficiency worldwide. see Inside efficiency<\/a><\/p>\n

So,\u00a0if you see\u00a0great problem analysis and hopeless solutions, is a sign of intellectual overload, of being in a circumstance “over your head”. \u00a0Think of all the times you’ve felt out of your element, and the strange gut feeling that causes, and use that to help you recognize when you yourself or others are bluffing instead of admitting a new approach entirely. \u00a0 \u00a0I’ve also discussed that in relation to the 3\/1\/2012 40th Anniversary meeting on the Limits to Growth.\u00a0Approaching 30 days from the 40th Anniversary<\/a><\/p>\n

12\/24\/2010 blog post\u00a0Complexity too great to follow what\u2019s happening\u2026 ??<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

11\/29\/11 blog post\u00a0The trap at the end of \u201cLow Hanging Fruit\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

6\/29\/12 blog post\u00a0Emotionally proof reading your logical models\u2026<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On now to recognize the somewhat universal responses to system and relationship overload, as strains resulting in loss of resilience and a risk of sudden disruption; replying to Helene on Systems Thinking World on her\u00a0“UN Call for Revolutionary Thinking” thread. The most general pattern is resilient relationships becoming rigid, like the surface of a balloon … Continue reading Principles for detecting and responding to system overload<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,8,9,16],"tags":[32],"class_list":["post-2001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teaching","category-econn","category-theory","category-policy","category-whattodo","tag-org-stage-models"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2001"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3050,"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2001\/revisions\/3050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synapse9.com\/signals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}