Communities Are Systems.
Thanks to Mallory Contois (vp of growth @ maven / founder of old girls club) for the informal book recommendation, ‘Thinking in Systems’ by Donella H. Meadows, that sparked this blog.
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If your community feels stuck (low turnout, few replies, too much effort for too little response) you're not alone. Many try to fix it by adding more: more events, more emails, more "value."
But what if the problem is the system.
Are Any Of These Your Assumptions?
Content and events drive community
More engagement = better engagement
Members act independently
Results happen immediately
These miss the hidden forces: interdependencies, delays, and feedback loops.
Think Like a System (Stocks, Flows, Feedback, Delays)
Stocks: Your Community's Assets
Trust • Social capital • Reputation • Knowledge
These accumulate slowly, but can deplete quickly when ignored
Flows: What Moves Through
Onboarding • Introductions • Content sharing • Event invites
Warning: Poorly designed flows (spam, overwhelm) drain trust faster than they build it
Feedback Loops: What Reinforces Itself
Positive: Member shares → gets recognized → shares more
Negative: Member posts → gets ignored → disengages → others see less activity
Delays: What Takes Time
New strategies may not show results for weeks/months
Communities die from slow leaks, not sudden events
(Psst, We're building something to help spot these patterns early - curious minds welcomed)
The System Questions to Ask
Instead of "What should we do next?" ask "Where is the system reinforcing the wrong outcomes?"
Instead of focusing on activity metrics, study trust levels, feedback timing, and contribution visibility
Instead of solving problems linearly, identify loops, thresholds, and delays that need redesign
The Real Problem
Many communities fail not because no one cares, but because the system reinforces the wrong behaviors. Then it’s a death spiral: Quiet post gets no replies, member doesn't post again, group looks quieter, cycle continues.
At Heard., we're obsessed with these hidden patterns. Not only capturing feedback, but listening for signal loss, broken loops, and trust leaks.
If you're doing everything "right" but still not getting lift, the issue might be systemic.
