As was the case with negative loops, positive
does not mean "good." It means the
opposite of negate. Positive feedback processes "add to" or reinforce change
rather than negating or reversing it. Like the proverbial ball rolling down the hill,
positive feedback loops lead a process to compound or spiral, causing it to gain
momentum as it goes. If unregulated, positive loops can drive a system "out of
control." Panic, paranoia, rage, cancerous growth, are a few examples of positive
feedback processes, which have escaped, or over powered regulation. However,
with the appropriate balancing influence of a negative loop, positive feedback
processes can produce growth and evolution- an escape from the status quo.
Positive feedback loops, like their negative
loop brethren, generate goal-seeking.
The difference between positive and negative loops is that the goals which former
seek are receding very rapidly (as opposed to being fixed or changing very slowly).
In fact, in the case of a positive loop, the very process of seeking the goal is what
drives it farther away. The faster the pursuit, the faster the goal recedes.
This is an illustration of how a positive
feedback process works with respect to the
performance - self-confidence spiral.
The better we perform, the more confident
we feel. The more confident we feel, the
better we perform. But, as we saw with the negative feedback relationship, the
wheel can spin in either direction. The less confident we feel, the worse we perform.
The worse we perform, the less confident we feel. Once again, we see the potential
for a self-fulfilling prophecy to operate.
In the case of the positive feedback loop,
the "goal" for (or target level of)
performance is linked to the level of Self Confidence. Again, often such links remain
implicit (both in reality and in your STELLA II models). In this example, the link
means that when Self Confidence rises, the target for Level of Performance follows
suit. And vice versa. Then, as performance adjusts to the new target level, self-
confidence responds accordingly. It's easy to see how such a process can spin "out
of control."
