Table 1 Intervention level framework
Level | Description | Effectiveness |
|---|---|---|
Paradigm | System’s deepest held beliefs | Difficult to intervene at this level but highly effective |
Source of system’s goals, rules and structures | ||
Goals | Targets that conform to the system’s paradigm and need to be achieved for paradigm to shift | Action at this level can change the aim of the system |
System structure | Interconnections between system elements and subsystems | Action at this level will shift the system structure by changing system linkages and dynamics |
Feedback and delays | Allows the system to regulate itself by providing information about the outcome of different actions back to the source of the actions | Actions at this level can create new feedback or increase gain around existing loops |
Structural elements | Changes to physical elements of the system, its actors or subsystems | Easiest level at which to intervene. |
Many actions at the level are required to create system-wide change |