Systems Thinking
A small change that leads to big, system-wide consequences is called this.
What is a cascading effect?
Melting Arctic sea ice can accelerate this global phenomenon.
What is climate change (or global warming)?
One buggy software update causing failures across many apps is an example of this.
What is a cascading failure?
A rumor about a bank’s health can trigger this customer reaction.
What is a bank run?
One person starting a trend that many copy is an example of this effect.
What is a ripple effect (or bandwagon effect)
In systems thinking, this term describes a loop where an effect amplifies its own cause.
What is a positive feedback loop?
Cutting down forests can reduce rainfall, which then harms more forests—this is called a what kind of loop?
What is a feedback loop (or positive feedback loop)
When one hacked account leads to many others being compromised, it’s called this kind of attack.
What is a chain reaction attack (or cascading compromise)
A drop in consumer confidence can reduce spending, which further hurts the economy—this is known as this type of spiral.
What is a downward spiral (or recessionary spiral)
When fear spreads faster than facts after a crisis, this kind of “contagion” is happening.
What is emotional contagion (or social contagion)
This field studies how interconnected parts create behaviors that can’t be understood by looking at parts alone.
What is systems theory (or complex systems science)
Coral bleaching can destroy reefs, which then harms fisheries and tourism—this is an example of this type of effect.
What is a cascading ecological effect?
A single data center outage causing failures in many services shows this kind of infrastructure risk.
What is single point of failure risk (or cascading infrastructure failure)
When one country’s financial crisis spreads to others, it’s called this.
What is financial contagion?
Social media algorithms amplifying extreme content can create this kind of polarization.
What is political/social polarization?
This term describes a point where a small push causes a large, often irreversible system change.
What is a tipping point?
Thawing permafrost releasing methane that accelerates warming is an example of this climate feedback.
What is a cascading ecological effect?
A viral post causing a platform-wide surge in traffic and outages is an example of this phenomenon.
What is a traffic surge (or flash crowd / slashdot effect)
A sudden stock sell-off triggering automatic trading and a market plunge is called this kind of event.
What is a flash crash?
When small policy changes over time reshape norms and expectations, they’re said to have this long-term effect.
What is a cumulative or long-term cascading effect (accept policy feedback)
This phrase describes how failures in one part of a tightly coupled system can rapidly bring down the whole system.
What is a cascading failure?
The collapse of a keystone species that destabilizes an entire ecosystem is called this kind of collapse.
What is an ecosystem collapse?
A flaw in widely used open-source code exposing millions of systems is an example of this kind of vulnerability.
What is a supply chain vulnerability?
The 2008 crisis showed how complex financial products created this kind of systemic risk.
What is systemic financial risk?
When small policy changes over time reshape norms and expectations, they’re said to have this long-term effect.
What is a cumulative or long-term cascading effect (accept policy feedback)