Article
Scalability – Voltage Drops
We probably all know that any change – well, obviously, changes something. But this also means there will be various knock-on effects. In a best-case scenario, the knock-on effects are positive but there can also be, and often are, unintended negative consequences or negative spill overs.
Many of these are commonly seen in government mandated programmes. For example, making cycling helmets mandatory in Victoria, Australia, reduced the number of head injuries, but the negative consequence is it also reduced the number of adolescent cyclists. A group the government would actually want cycling more.
The rule of unintended consequences is that in any complex system there will always be multiple knock-on effects. And many of these will be hard to predict. They could be negative change in other areas or alternatively do the opposite to what was intended.
This means that considerable thought needs to be given to what will change when change occurs, or new policies are implemented.
Simple Takeaways
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- Give considerable thought to consequences
- Trial and pilot at scale where possible and collect behavioural data
- Measure continually and respond quickly
© leading brains 2022
Reference
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Limits to Scalability – Voltage Drops
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