id: 1161,2
title: Systems are composed of a few classes of concepts.
date: 2022-03-01

Systems are composed of a few classes of concepts.

  • Elements: Literal parts of the system, including actors and intangible concepts.
  • Interconnections: The ways in which elements work together. While sometimes a physical flow, this can always be interpteted as a flow of information destined for a decision or action point.
  • Stocks: Measurable stores of physical or intangible stuff-of-concern. This is what constitutes the system’s goals’ foundation.
  • Flows: Activities that adjust the level of a stock.
  • Feedback loops: Reactions to changes in stock, which in turn changes inflow/outflow.

rM3

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    Donella H. Meadows and Diana Wright, Thinking in Systems: A Primer (White River Junction, Vt: Chelsea Green Pub, 2008). (See notes.)