I need 2 response to each student discussion board post included with text quote and references.
Kimille Williams-Stingily XXXXXXXXXXWeek 2 Discussion-KS: Limits to Growth Collapse
As defined in chapter 6 of the Sengetext, limits to growth is when "A reinforcing (amplifying) process is set in motion to produce a desired result. It creates a spiral of success but also creates inadvertentsecondary effects (manifested in a balancing process) which eventually slow down the success" (p. 94).
My understanding of this archetype is basically a situation in which things vastly improve, reach a high level of success, become stagnant, and maybe eventually start to decline. "...a situation in which things get better and better at first, and then mysteriously stop improving" (p. 101).
"...organizations grow for a while, but then stop growing. Working groups get better for a while, but stop getting better. Individuals improve themselves for a period of time, then plateau" (p. 95).
I read an example that I found interesting. Although the context was different, the characteristics were quite accurate. Someone equated limits to growth with falling in love in a new relationship. You first meet someone and there is an attraction, you start to spend time together and enjoy it and that time spent together increases. Everything is going well and you are in the "honeymoon phase" and you start to spend all of your free time with this person. As you spend more time together, you get to know each otheron a deeper level and you start to realize things that you don't like about each other. The honeymoon phase ends and you become more aware of shortcomings and deal breakers. "As you learn each other's flaws...the dramatic growth in feelings comes to a suddenhalt-and may even reverse itself, so that you feel worse about each other than you did when you first met" (p. 96).This example hit home for me because I have experienced this in relationships. According to the definition of limits to growth, this is a perfect example. Romantic relationships are very much likebusinesses. A team is working together towards reaching a goal of some sort.
The text describes another example stating that "limits to growth occurs when a professional organization, such as a law firm or consultancy, grows very rapidly when it is small, providing outstanding promotion opportunities. Morale grows and talented junior members are highly motivated, expecting to become partners within ten years. But as the firm gets larger, its growth slows. Perhaps it starts to saturate its market niche. Or it might reach a size where the founding partners are no longer interestedin sustaining rapid growth. However the growth rate slows, this means fewer promotion opportunities, more infighting among junior members, and an overall decline in morale" (p.97). Situations such as these are very common, however, the deeper systemic causes for unsustainedgrowth often go unrecognized.
Senge, Peter M. (2006).The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York: Crown Business
Steven Hugueley
XXXXXXXXXXWeek Two Discussion Collapse
Senge XXXXXXXXXXsays, “If you are in a reinforcing feedback system, you may be blind to how small actions can grow into large consequences – for better or worse” (p. 80). Some reinforcing cycles are what Senge XXXXXXXXXXcalls “vicious cycles” or a cycle in which things get worse (p. 80). Great examples of this are hurricanes. I lived in the Jacksonville, Florida area for years and at the beginning of every hurricane season the city, county, and state governments would put out hundreds of public service announcements. The announcements would ask people to have enough supplies at home to last for at least five days whether you planned to stay or evacuate. The recommended supplies included flashlights, batteries, cash, first aid kits, medications, plywood for boarding up windows and most importantly non-perishable food and water. The majority of the population did not stock up on supplies and when hurricane Matthew started bearing down on the Jacksonville area in October 2016, people started hoarding supplies. Three days from possible landfall, stores were out of water, ice, batteries, gasoline and automatic teller machines were out of cash. Friends of mine would top off there gas tanks, restock their coolers with ice, and buy more water every day they could. The stores were out of supplies just hours after getting restocked; they could not get their inventory back to normal until days after the storm hit.
Senge XXXXXXXXXXalso discusses “virtuous cycles” or “processes that reinforce in desired directions” (p. 81). A virtuous reinforcing feedback system for me has been journaling. Most of us journaled in high school for English class, but many of us did not stick with it. However, a few years ago, after a great deal of personal loss, I decided it might be a good time to start a journal once again. Journaling is to the mind and soul, what exercising is to the body, the more I write, the more I want to write. Journaling frees the mind of daily troubles and can provide a type of euphoria from higher thought. This euphoria or freedom from the “daily noise” has created a “reinforcing spiral” for me (Senge, 2006, p. 81).
Senge, P. M., (2006). The fifth discipline, the art & practice of the learning organization. New York, New York: Crown Business