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DCL
There are twelve leverage points at which to intervene in a system. These points were proposed by Donella Meadows, a scientist and system analyst focused on environmental limits to economic growth. First published in 1997, Meadows' leverage points were inspired by her attendance at a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) meeting in the early 1990s where she realized that a very large new system was being proposed but the mechanisms to manage it were ineffective.
"Dana was involved with the pioneering dynamic computer modeling work through MIT and the Club of Rome that attempted to demonstrate the ultimate results of the interactions between natural and human systems," adds Rob Watson of GreenerBuildings. "The results of this work were published in 1972 in the book, The Limits to Growth with co-authors Dennis Meadows, J
The leverage points, from 12 to 1:
12. Constants, parameters, numbers (such as subsidies, taxes, standards)
11. The size of buffers and other stabilizing stocks, relative to their flows
10. The structure of material stocks and flows (such as transport network, population age structures)
9. The length of delays, relative to the rate of system changes
8. The strength of negative feedback loops, relative to the effect they are trying to correct against
7. The gain around driving positive feedback loops
6. The structure of information flow (who does and does not have access to what kinds of information)
5. The rules of the system (such as incentives, punishment, constraints)
4. The power to add, change, evolve, or self-organize system structure
3. The goal of the system
2. The mindset or paradigm that the system—its goals, structure, rules, delays, parameters—arises out of
1. The power to transcend paradigms
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