05 / INTERVENE
Change the number.
Or change the rules.
Donella Meadows’s twelve leverage points invite a wider search for change. Use the list to expand your options, not to assume that a higher-ranked intervention will always work.
12ParametersNumbers+
Change a rate, threshold or budget.
Which range changes behavior rather than only changing its scale?
11StructureBuffers+
Change the reserve relative to its flows.
Which disturbance should the reserve absorb, and what does holding it cost?
10StructurePhysical structure+
Change where material moves or accumulates.
What becomes possible when the connections themselves change?
9FeedbackDelays+
Change when information or an effect arrives.
Can the response arrive while it is still useful?
8FeedbackBalancing feedback+
Change the strength of a corrective response.
Will stronger correction stabilize this system under its actual delay?
7FeedbackReinforcing feedback+
Change how strongly a departure amplifies.
Which compounding process deserves support or restraint?
6FeedbackInformation flows+
Change who can observe which consequences.
What would people do differently if a missing state became visible?
5Rules & goalsRules+
Change permissions, incentives or constraints.
Who can revise the rule, and who bears the transition costs?
4Rules & goalsSelf-organization+
Change the capacity to revise the system’s structure.
Can participants experiment and learn without exporting unacceptable harm?
3Rules & goalsGoals+
Change the outcome that organizes action.
Which objective is being optimized, and which objectives are excluded?
2Rules & goalsParadigms+
Examine the assumptions that make a goal seem natural.
Which belief makes the current arrangement appear inevitable?
1Rules & goalsBeyond a paradigm+
Hold the governing worldview open to revision.
Can you compare different frames without treating any as the whole reality?