systems traps

Systems traps are a pattern language in systems thinking which describe tendencies of systems to fall into certain pathological ruts. They apply to systems of any scale—from economies to projects to individual relationships—and can be helpful to identify when a system is on an unsustainable course (from a reinforcing feedback loop) or stuck in a rut (from a balancing feedback loop).

I first learned of these systems archetypes from thesystemsthinker.com

Opportunities

Thinking In Systems catalogues eight of these and refers to them not only as traps but as opportunities. These systems pathologies are so common that most of us don’t even notice them, so even recognizing that they’re traps is an opportunity to avoid them, or get out of them if you’re stuck in one.