One of the systems archetypes in Peter M. Senge's The Fifth Discipline (1990), later set out by Daniel H. Kim and Virginia Anderson (1998) and John D. Sterman (2000).
Describes how a gap between target and performance closes by lowering the target, with performance unchanged, so standards slip a little at a time.
When to reach for it
Whenever a gap has closed and it is worth checking whether results rose or the target came down.
How it runs
- For each closed gap, ask whether performance rose or the goal fell.
- If the goal fell, name the pattern.
- Fix the goal and close gaps through performance only.
- Anchor targets outside the team: benchmarks, frozen targets, independent review.
- Allow a reset only with written justification.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- The Fifth Discipline, Appendix 2, systems archetypes, 1990
- Systems Archetype Basics, Pegasus Communications, 1998
- Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World, 2000