B2–C1 · SYS · XTHSYS004

This treats the symptom [X] without changing the underlying driver [Y]

A reusable frame from “Systems thinking”. Trace second-order effects, bottlenecks, local optimisation, and the drivers that keep a problem recurring.

EN · EnglishThis treats the symptom [X] without changing the underlying driver [Y].
DE · GermanDas behandelt das Symptom [X], ohne den zugrunde liegenden Treiber [Y] zu verändern.

Try variations2 · more examples

  1. RU · Translation

    Это устраняет симптом медленной проверки, не меняя базовую причину — неясную ответственность.

    EN · English

     This  treats the symptom of slow review without  changing the underlying driver of unclear ownership.

    DE · German

     Das  behandelt  das Symptom langsamer Prüfungen, ohne  den zugrunde liegenden Treiber unklarer Verantwortlichkeiten zu  verändern.

  2. RU · Translation

    Это устраняет симптом низкого удержания, не меняя базовую причину — слабую ценность повторного использования.

    EN · English

     This  treats the symptom of low retention without  changing the underlying driver of weak repeat value.

    DE · German

     Das  behandelt  das Symptom niedriger Bindung, ohne  den zugrunde liegenden Treiber eines schwachen Wiederholungsnutzens zu  verändern.

Reasoning move · Trace consequences

Trace consequences

What it does

Distinguish a visible symptom from the driver that keeps recreating it.

Pattern graph

Continue with nearby patterns

Related reasoning patterns4

Nearby structures let you perform the same reasoning move in a different form.

  1. The immediate effect may be [X], while the second-order effect could be [Y].Trace consequences · same reasoning move · same study set
  2. This removes the bottleneck at [X], but may move it to [Y].Trace consequences · same reasoning move · same study set
  3. Optimising [X] locally can make [Y] worse overall.Trace consequences · same reasoning move · same study set
  4. The system will keep producing [X] as long as [Y] remains unchanged.Trace consequences · same reasoning move · same study set

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