Map a recurring problem before trying to fix it

What keeps this problem happening, and where can I make a useful change?

Describe what changes over time, draw the important flows and feedback, and test a small change against observations. Treat the drawing as a working explanation that can be wrong.

Evidence checked October 15, 2026. No hands-on testing.

Choose one recurring problem

Start with something you can observe: repeated food waste, missing supplies, an overloaded schedule or a shared task that often goes unfinished. Define the outcome in ordinary language. “Reduce unused pantry food while keeping useful meals available” is more workable than “fix the whole household.”

Understand the model you are making

A system sketch shows the parts you choose to consider, their connections and the boundary around the problem. That boundary is a choice: it may include the pantry, shopping routine and cooking time but leave national supply chains outside the first sketch. OpenLearn’s introductory course introduces boundaries, environment and feedback. A useful sketch makes those choices visible rather than hiding them.

Build the first sketch

1. Name the outcome and period. Choose what you want to improve and how often you will review it. Use the same time period for every flow you compare.
2. Identify what accumulates. A stock is an amount present at a time, such as usable portions in a pantry. Use one consistent unit. Separate different kinds of items when adding them would be misleading.
3. Draw what adds to or removes from that stock. Purchases add food; eating and discarding remove it. Label the arrows with quantities per period when those observations are available. Leave unknown quantities marked unknown.
4. Add information and decisions. What tells someone to buy more? Who sees what is already there? When is the shopping decision made? Draw a different kind of line for information so it is not confused with a physical flow.
5. Look for feedback and delay. Ask whether a change feeds back to strengthen itself or prompts a response that counteracts it. Then ask how long that response takes. A repeated urgent purchase followed by unused stock is a hypothesis to investigate, not a conclusion from the drawing alone.
6. Check the sketch with the people involved. Ask what is missing, whose time is affected, and which arrows are based on records rather than guesses. Keep competing explanations when the evidence does not choose between them.
7. Choose a small, reversible test. For example, try a visible stock list before the next shop. Set the review period, expected change, cost ceiling and conditions for stopping or revising the test. Observe both the desired result and possible new problems.

A simple accounting check

Illustrative example: begin with 20 comparable usable portions, add 12, consume 18 and discard 4. Closing stock is 20 + 12 − 18 − 4 = 10 portions. This balances the recorded quantities; it does not explain why food was wasted or prove that a new shopping rule will help.

A minimal system-mapping worksheet

Part of the sketch	What to record	Question to ask
Stock	Amount present at the start and end	Are the items and units comparable?
Flow	Amount added or removed during the period	Have I counted a movement twice or missed one?
Information	Who sees the stock and when	Could a decision use better or earlier information?
Feedback and delay	How an outcome changes the next decision	What observation would show that this explanation is wrong?

Decision map: check the sketch before changing the system

Text alternative: Sketch the quantities first, then the decisions and feedback. Use the sketch to plan a limited test; do not treat it as a demonstrated causal model.

Choose a learning resource for the next step

Meadows’s essay encourages broader questions about information, rules and goals and explicitly cautions that it is not a recipe. MIT’s archived workshop offers a more formal introduction through lecture materials. Use these frameworks to question the sketch; an institution’s reputation does not validate your particular arrows or forecasts.

Costs, limits and common errors

• Paper, a pencil and a short observation log are enough for a first model. Paid simulation software is not necessary for this task.
• Do not change several things at once and then attribute every difference to one favored explanation.
• Do not hide another person’s unpaid work outside the boundary when a proposed improvement depends on it.
• A successful short test may not work in another season or at a larger scale. Record what was observed and what remains uncertain.

Your next useful action

Draw a stock, its inflows and outflows, and the decision that changes one flow. Write one observation that would challenge your explanation. Then choose whether to collect more information or run a small test.

Resources and their limitations

Sources and review notes

The resource evaluations above use the following original pages. Public websites were checked on October 15, 2026 in America/Denver (October 16 UTC). A successful capture does not establish every linked page or individual result. No hands-on testing occurred.

• OpenLearn — Systems thinking and practice
• Donella Meadows — Leverage Points
• MIT OCW — System Dynamics workshop

Related guides

Affordable staples and bulk purchasing; practical calculation; design and problem solving.

Examples are teaching aids; no course completion, field navigation or practical intervention was tested.

Corrections: email director@victimsguide.com with the guide title, the point to correct and an original source. Please omit private medical, policy and identity records.