The document discusses the pervasive self-reinforcing feedback loops within human and natural systems that lead to fragility and inequality, emphasizing that current mechanisms concentrate power and opportunities among a few 'winners.' It advocates for a systemic change through distributed agency, emphasizing the importance of embedding renewal factors and supporting diverse innovations to disrupt monopolies and promote health and thrivability. The approach calls for a multidimensional strategy, leveraging existing change agents and fostering participatory processes to create generative commons for sustained renewal.

1. An Ecology
for Transforma0ve Ac0on
& Systemic Change
Helene Finidori – May 2014

2. Our System is stuck in self‐reinforcing feedback loops
By Our System I mean the interac2ons between the mul2ple human and natural
systems that make up our world, and the flows and accumula2ons they generate.
We are currently in a situa0on where self‐reinforcing feedback loops are
pervasive, reinforcing the mechanisms in play and making them more
powerful, and at the same 0me, making the system increasingly fragile.
The widening inequality gap documented by PikeMy is a result of this
phenomenon, power and opportunity is increasingly concentrated in fewer
hands. Cumula0ve advantage and network effects resul0ng from preferen0al
aMachment, herd mentality and winner takes all models, as well as the short
term oriented financialisa0on of the economy, and the speed, intensity and
scope of informa0on flows, all reinforce each other and the final outcomes in
self‐mul0plying ways.
Our reward systems and the over applica0on of ‘winning’ macro and micro
economic models that end up ‘overdosing’ keep us stuck in vicious circles as
the remedy is believed to be more of the same.
See Appendix for details on Feedback

3. What happens to innova;on and opportunity?
We end up with resources aMracted, captured and extracted by a few
'winners’, cumula0ng advantage (opportunity, success, power, credit, capital)
in a reinforcing feedback loop, dedicated to reinforce the mechanisms that
maintain the status quo or enclose opportunity and innova0on (to exploit or
s0fle it), crea0ng monopolies and dependencies.
Centralized groups set the rules under the pretense of free market rules,
giving way to manipulation.
Investment concentrates on efficiency innova0on and financial instruments
that yield larger returns. Disrup0ve empowering innova0on as called for by
Clayton Christensen can't really occur, or only empowers a few.
The natural crea0ve destruc0on called for by Schumpeter to break
accumulation and monopolies
can't operate effec0vely, and the system is destroying itself as he
pDriveedricsitteyd s. h rinks and the seeds of opportunity for the renewal of the system,
that ensure the thrivability of its interconnected economic, social and natural
components, have difficulty to sprout out.

4. Overshoot
We are stuck here in accumula0ve self‐reinforcing
self‐mul0plying feedback
loops (r to K) with liMle renewal of the
system
There is no
Invisible Hand
(Adam Smith)
There is no
Crea0ve Destruc0on
(Schumpeter)
The system
accumulates risk
and fragility
Release is
increasingly violent
and long to get over
Adap;ve Cycles of Complex Adap;ve Systems
Panarchy ‐ Gunderson & Holling 2002

5. What can we do as innovators, change agents or ac;vists?
• We need to embed the reproduc0on of distributed factors of opportunity
& renewal in the code of the system at all levels and scales for the system
to become genera0ve rather than extrac0ve.
• Secure ongoing “Destructive Creation” at all levels and scales.
• Empower and enable the variety in the “Long Tail” and not only the few
that operate in monoculture at the “Head”
Variety
Popularity
Power Distribu0on Graph
Head
• Avoid centralized or decentralized monopoly and accumula0on of fragility
• Leverage and ac0vate the forces of opportunity and innova0on already
exis0ng in the system in the persons of change agents to this effect.

6. Agency is distributed
The process of social change is a fluid ongoing mul0‐direc0onal and
many‐sided human transforma0on process that operates at many
levels (R.C. Smith).
Symbio0c
Agentic
Politic-Ethic
Technic-Strategic
Rela0onal-Emotional
Change agents have
different views of what
to change and how, and
they engage through
different logics of
change
Cybernetic
Cosmologic
More here: hMp://www.slideshare.net/helenefinidori/imagine‐thecommongoodconf2013

7. The engagement and ac;on logics : how people see change
Symbio0c
Agentic
Politic-Ethic
Technic-Strategic
Rela0onal-Emotional
Cybernetic
Cosmologic
Return to the source and essen;als, and Mother Earth. Change as
replenishment, harmony, aMunement of people with each other and nature,
honoring all beings and life.
Distributed livelihoods figh;ng the system as survivors or heroes.
Change through empowerment, autonomy and resilience. The distributed nature
of change and innova0on opera0ng outside of ins0tu0ons.
Crea;ng legi;macy & stewardship through governance & ins;tu;ons.
Change through law & policy, ethics & governance, limits and boundaries, applied
within exis0ng ins0tu0ons.
Seeking efficiencies via new strategies & mechanisms. Change through sciences,
technologies and ‘tools’, new organiza0onal, management and conserva0on/
preserva0on models, new indicators and metrics.
Fostering emo;onal rela;onships: Change through social prac0ce, community,
social responsibility, learning, collabora0ve and sharing prac0ces, prac0ces of
wellbeing.
Understanding systems & complexity linking theory & prac;ce:
Change through systemic, dynamic and polycentric approaches, interweaving
contexts and development, and the cultural, natural and technological aspects.
Transforming self & others integra;ng the material, spiritual, societal. Change
through experience of wholeness of existence through mind and spirit, deep
sense making and awareness of systems interac0ons and dynamic processes.

8. How can distributed agency be leveraged?
How can the dots connect? What is the underlying logic, the archetype, that can
act as scaffold to aggregate the diversity of disparate efforts for change, and
work effec0vely toward the renewal of distributed opportuni0es in the system?
ar•che•type [ahr‐ki‐tahyp]
n.
1. the original paMern or model from which all things of the same
kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form;
prototype.
2. (in Jungian psychology) a collec0vely inherited unconscious idea,
paMern of thought, image, etc., universally present in individual
psyches.

9. The Commons
How about the Commons as archetype?
Defined as the distributed factors of opportunity & renewal, health &
thrivability of the system that need to be protected, nurtured, and (re)
produced?
Encompassing:
 Objects of care and aQen;on: the resources and other material and
immaterial factors of opportunity and enablement that people care for
and take care of for the renewal and thrivability of the system.
 Processes: how people take care of the objects in distributed
par0cipatory ways, the prac0ces, cultures, rela0onships, which are
objects of care and aMen0on themselves.
 Outcomes: what results from the prac0ces, which become in turn
objects of care

10. The commons
The distributed factors of opportunity & renewal, health & thrivability of
the system which ensure the on‐going thrivability and renewal of the
system as a whole and its individual agents at various levels and scales.
Factors of
Opportunity
The seeds
in the long tail
Factors of
Renewal
The capacity
to challenge
& (re)invent
Thrivability
The capacity for frui0on & matura0on
Health
Distributed diversity & variety

11. A commons based Mul;‐dimensional Mul;‐faceted
Systemic Change Working Model
We need a mul0dimensional mul0faceted prac0cal approach to leverage agency
in its different contexts and converge the effects of disparate efforts.
We need a model genera0ve of commons, that operates on a wide array of
leverage points at all levels of the system.
This is not exclusively about crea0ng commons ‘forms’, but rather to embed the
“commons renewal code” in the system, i.e. the elements that can ensure the
protec0on and reproduc0on of the commons as an emergent outcome of human
ac0vity.
This presenta0on is conceptual, but the elements that cons0tute the model will
be found in experience of genera0ve models and ac0vi0es and grounded in
praxis.

12. Infrastructure
& Parameters
Behavior &
Feedback
Mechanisms
Form
Culture &
Psychology
2. 1.
4. 3.
The Model from the
Perspec;ve of
Donella Meadow’s
Leverage points
for systemic change

13. We proceed as a whole at the highest leverage point: the power to transcend
paradigm by espousing all of them.
Paradigms or engagement/ac0on logics are seen complementary, in mutual
recogni0on, and not as part of a developmental con0nuum.
We place ourselves in the logic of each paradigm/culture from which the form
of the system arises: its goals, structures and rules.
Leveraging agency and the capabili0es of the change agents within each
paradigm enables a mul0dimensional mul0‐faceted approach.
The change agent or innovator, as a ‘radical’ within or at the edge of his own
cluster of engagement, is ‘efficacious’ as he works in tune with the logic and
language of his cluster.
A paMern language is developed to embed the underlying logic or “code” of
commons reproduc0on, the means to perpetually regenerate the factors of
opportunity & renewal and associated mechanisms, into the system’s form.
Culture &
1. Psychology

14. The PaMern language expresses commons renewal as goal of the system, and
provides the grammar and vocabulary to express what it means and involves
in terms of structures and rules and all other characteris0cs of the system, in
the narra0ve of the various contexts in which it is meant to apply.
This does not seek to exclusively create commons forms, but to create
condi0ons for any ac0vity to par0cipate in whole or part in the crea0on and
regenera0on of commons as an emergent process.
This PaMern Language is a set of design principles and building blocks, which
enable to build solu0ons in line with each ac0on logic. They include the
mechanisms, par0cipatory and genera0ve processes and feedback loops that
will enable the commons to be protected, nurtured, grown 'by design' and
preserved against over‐exploita0on, abuse, or enclosure, as well as the an0‐
paMerns and mechanisms to iden0fy as corrupt, and to stay away from.
It is also designed to help 'conversa0on' within and between 'languages', for
mutual understanding in mul0‐stakeholder groups, discovery of each other's
logics and opera0ng modes, and dealing with conflic0ng interests, trade‐offs,
etc… in par0cipatory processes.
2. Form

15. Behavior &
Feedback
Mechanisms
The “code” or mechanisms to embed in the system includes the reinforcing
loops needed to grow the commons, and the balancing loops needed to self‐regulate
the system. See appendix for further informa0on on feedback.
An inquiry process helps determine the type of objects, genera0ve processes/
prac0ces and outcomes that need to be enhanced and amplified as genera0ve
of commons, and those which need to be corrected because they are
destruc0ve of commons.
Because any remedy ini0ally beneficial when self‐mul0plying, can become
toxic if overdosed, the approach seeks to detect the limit points when
balancing loops must kick in (S0egler’s pharmacology).
Visualiza0on systems are introduced to provide feedback and show the flows
and accumula0ons and the impact of the micro on the macro, and to give
change agents the signals to act upon the reinforcing and balancing feedback
loops. The seman0c web can help build the visualiza0on and feedback
mechanisms that can help operate the system in a s0gmerge0c way.
Naviga0on systems create bridges between the various ac0on logics for
coordinated monitoring and ac0on.
3.

16. Infrastructure
& Parameters
The stocks and flows structures and systems parameters are used to ‘regulate’
the flows and the accumula0ons generated by the system: rates of taxes,
minimum wage, interest rates, limits to pollu0on emission or use of water
during droughts etc. They also consist in the prac0ces and norms that enable
‘self‐regula0on’.
Combined, they have an effect on the feedback loops that drive the system.
The heuris0cs, inquiry processes associated with the paMerns will help change
agents combine complementary paMerns to build new solu0ons and pathways
in line with reali0es they can relate to, and that will appropriately help
operate change 'locally', in a way that is favorable to the commons with all the
diversity and meshing generated across clusters.
It will help connect to and interconnect exis0ng prac0cal applica0ons, making
databases of solu0ons 'ac0onable' and provide an 'orienta0on system', which
would also enable naviga0on between domains.
4.

17. Visualiza;ons for systemic change
As part of the s0gmerge0c feedback, the model includes visualisa0ons systems where parts of a
whole can see the whole evolve and the rela0onships between parts in ac0on, enabling gaps to
be iden0fied, needs fulfilled, possibili0es explored and impacts visualized.
• J.F. Noubel speaks of holop0cism, a form of reverse panop0con: "Each player, thanks to his/
her experience and exper0se, relates to the whole in order to adjust his/her ac0ons and
coordinate them with others' moves. Therefore there is an unceasing round trip, a feedback
loop that works like a mirror between the individual level and the collec0ve one.”
• Bracha Epnger describes borderspaces at the junc0on of things, borderlinks created via
fluctua0on of distance in proximity to create rela0ons without rela0onships, where traces
produced are shearable between subjects in trans‐subjec0ve rela0onships. Revealing
overlaps and rela0ons between object and iden0fying synergies across mul0ple dimensions
(it can be across disciplines, domains, projects, cultures, communi0es, interests...)
• Stephen Johnson describes Stuart Kaufman’s idea of the adjacent possibles: "The strange and
beau0ful truth about the adjacent possible is that its boundaries grow as you explore them.
Each new combina0on opens up the possibility of other new combina0ons. Think of it as a
house that magically expands with each door you open. You begin in a room with four doors,
each leading to a new room that you haven't visited yet. Once you open one of those doors
and stroll into that room, three new doors appear, each leading to a brand‐new room that
you couldn't have reached from your original star0ng point. Keep opening new doors and
eventually you'll have built a palace."

18. Appendix:
Feedback

19. All systems operate on feedback
• A system uses ‘feedback’ as informa0on on the effect of passed or present
phenomenon to influence the same phenomenon in the present or future.
• Feedback is a process, part of a chain of cause‐and‐effect that forms a
circuit or loop. It is characterized by the crea0on or not of a gap with the
ini0al state of the system and by the ‘direc0on’ in which it sends the
system (virtuous or vicious).
• A posi0ve/reinforcing feedback enhances or amplifies an effect (virtuous
or vicious) and widens the gap with an ini0al state: A produces more of B
which in turn produces more of A.
• A nega0ve/balancing feedback reduces or corrects an effect and narrows
the gap with an ini0al or desired state: A produces less of B which in turn
produces less of A.
• Depending on the system, feedback triggers conscious or automa0c
reac0ons (ex. ‘human ordered’ trading vs automa0c trading)

20. Posi;ve or reinforcing feedback & change in a system
• When a change occurs in a system, posi0ve/reinforcing feedback causes
further change in the same direc0on, gaining momentum through self‐reinforcing
self mul0plying loops.
• Reinforcing feed‐back increases the gain (or loss) from repe00on. With
accumula0on of reinforcing feedback gaps get bigger. When the loop gain
is posi0ve and above 1, there will typically be exponen0al growth,
increasing oscilla0ons or divergences from equilibrium.
• Reinforcing feedback tends to cause system instability. System parameters
will typically accelerate towards extreme values, which may damage or
destroy the system by sending it into chaos, which may end with the
system latched into a new stable state (ex: a totalitarian or more
authoritarian regime such as described in Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine or
Dave Snowden’s Cynefin model).

21. Nega;ve or balancing feedback & change in a system
• Nega0ve or balancing feedback tends to make a system self‐regula0ng or
self‐correc0ng; it can produce stability ‘at the edge of chaos’ and reduce
the effect of damaging fluctua0ons.
• Balancing feedback loops help to be responsive to new events and
behaviors, and help maintain the health and thrivability of a system, and
trajectories towards desired outcomes.
• An airplane auto‐pilot is an example of a constructed automa0c self‐correc
0ng system. Nature (climate) and biology (homeostasis maintaining
life) are self‐organized ones. In management balanced scorecards provides
feedback informa0on for conscious decision making (choice between
reinforcing or correc0on).
• Both Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand and Schumpeter’s Crea0ve Destruc0on
are manifesta0ons of the emergent self regula0on of the system.

22. Reinforcing feedback loops in prac;ce
• The MaQhew effect: success helps gain access to resources which in turn
results in further success and resources. Credit is given to those who are
already famous (or rich), also called preferen0al aMachment (aMrac0on of
largest hubs). Example in peer review, ranking by ‘likes’ or popularity, star
system, meritocracy, winner take all markets. Same phenomenon happens in
reverse with scapegoa0ng, bullying, swirboa0ng campaigns. This is norma0ve
and may s0fle difference or disrup0ve innova0on.
> Feedback driven by reputa;on, ‘winner’ aQrac;on
• The Network effect: When network effect is present, the
value of a product or service is dependent on the number of
others using it. Each new entrant adds value to the whole
network. Over 0me, posi0ve network effects can create a
bandwagon effect as the network becomes more valuable
and more people join, in a posi0ve feedback loop. That’s
why most of us are s0ll on facebook… Newer networks have
more difficulty to aMract.
> Feedback driven by cri;cal mass aQrac;on

23. Reinforcing feedback loops in prac;ce
• The bandwagon effect or herd behavior: "the probability of any individual
adop0ng a behavior increases with the propor0on who have already done so".
People chose the most visible, obvious, ‘aMrac0ve’ op0ons. Examples in
rankings, recommended purchases, likes, SEO, best prac0ces. In management,
and investment op0miza0on, ‘winning models’ are over‐applied, reducing the
diversity of behaviors, and in the end of compe00ve advantage.
> Feedback driven by Imita;on
• Self‐fulfilling prophecy: a predic0on that directly or indirectly causes itself to
become true, by the very terms of the prophecy itself, due to posi0ve
feedback between belief and behavior that brings the behavior to reality.
Examples: Bear or bull markets. Assuming people cannot be trusted makes
them more dishonest, assuming people are driven by self‐interest makes
them worry more of their self interest. Behavioral engineering plays on this.
> Assump;on feedback
These effects all overlap and feed into each other, amplified by form, scope
(distribu0on), intensity (pressure) and frequency of communica0on that influence
propaga0on.

24. Consequences of reinforcing feedback loops
• PareQo principle: (also known as the 80–20 rule, the law of the vital few,
and the principle of factor sparsity) for many events, roughly 80% of the
effects come from 20% of the causes/occurrences. Efforts tend to
concentrate on the 20%.
• Power law: a func0onal rela0onship between two quan00es, where one
quan0ty varies as a power or exponen0a0on of another. "In systems
where many people are free to choose between many op0ons, a small
subset of the whole will get a dispropor0onate amount of traffic (or
aMen0on, or income), even if no members of the system ac0vely work
towards such an outcome. The very act of choosing, spread widely enough
and freely enough, creates a power law distribu0on.” (Clay Shirky)
• Cumula;ve advantage: once a social agent gains a small advantage over
other agents, that advantage will compound over 0me into an increasingly
larger advantage, aMrac0ng an increasing amount of resources.