---
title: "The eight system traps"
description: "Common structures that produce persistent bad behaviour, each paired with its way out."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/thinking-in-systems/the-eight-system-traps/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# The eight system traps

> Common structures that produce persistent bad behaviour, each paired with its way out.

Donella Meadows's framework, from Thinking in Systems, pp. 93 to 165.

Framework 3 of 7 from [Thinking in Systems](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/thinking-in-systems/index.md) by Donella Meadows. Category: Sales and negotiation.

## The steps

1. **Policy resistance.** Actors pull a stock towards different goals. Way out: let go, bring in all actors, and find an overarching goal.
2. **Tragedy of the commons.** Shared resource with weak feedback to users. Way out: educate and exhort, then privatise or regulate to restore the feedback.
3. **Drift to low performance.** Goals erode towards past performance. Way out: keep standards absolute or anchor them to the best results.
4. **Escalation.** Each side tries to out-do the other. Way out: refuse to compete or negotiate balancing loops.
5. **Success to the successful.** Winners get the means to win again. Way out: diversify, limit winners' share, level the field.
6. **Shifting the burden to the intervenor.** A symptom fix weakens the system's own capacity. Way out: avoid it, strengthen the system, then remove yourself.
7. **Rule beating.** Letter of the rule is met and the spirit is dodged. Way out: redesign rules so creativity serves their purpose.
8. **Seeking the wrong goal.** The system delivers exactly the indicator you set. Way out: specify goals that reflect real welfare, and do not confuse effort with result.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: Part Two: Systems and Us, pp. 93–165

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/thinking-in-systems/the-eight-system-traps.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/thinking-in-systems/the-eight-system-traps-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/thinking-in-systems/the-eight-system-traps.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/thinking-in-systems/the-eight-system-traps-dark.png