004 - Mental Model - Feedback Loops

One of my favorite things about my working career was learning about different systems and applying that to work and to life. How we construct and frame our model of reality, it sits in our brains with countless flaws, warping and sabotaging potentially better decisions and outcomes. That is why feedback is so critically important. Giving it. Receiving it. Testing it. Using it to change the system. I ran across this little blurb and thought it explained it better than I can. Some tiny system changes that profoundly changed my life: putting floss on the counter before I brush my teeth; making my bed before I leave the bedroom; getting up an hour earlier, walking away instead of fighting. Once you get going, the possibilities are endless. Tweak your systems. It’s really fun and super rewarding.

V3 | Systems | Feedback Loops

"Feedback loops are the engines of growth and change. They’re the mechanisms by which the output of a system influences its own input.

Complex systems often have many feedback loops, and it can be hard to appreciate how adjusting to feedback in one part of the system will affect the rest.

Using feedback loops as a mental model begins with noticing the feedback you give and respond to every day. The model also gives insight into the value of iterations in adjusting based on the feedback you receive. With this lens, you gain insight into where to direct system changes based on feedback and the pace at which you need to go to monitor the impacts.

Feedback loops are what make systems dynamic. Without feedback, a system just does the same thing over and over. Understand them, respect them, and use them wisely.

Source: Brain Food by Farnum Street
The *Updated* Great Mental Models v3: Systems and Mathematics

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