SSC · School of Systems & Complexity

04 — When interventions fight back

The Delay Trap

Why does correcting harder sometimes make things worse?

Try this: choose Overcorrecting, then Play. Increase patience and compare from Reset.

Tap → water travelling through the pipe → shower · A tap change reaches you after the delay
Start with

Try this: choose Overcorrecting, then Play. Increase patience and compare from Reset.

Paused

A model shower: 15–55°C. Delay restarts the pipe. In automatic mode the controller turns the tap; switch to You for manual control.

Water reaching you —

Feels —

Tap setting —

Water reaching you · dotted line: comfortable temperature

What to notice

The tap changes the water entering the pipe, not the water already at the shower. Watch the coloured water travel. In Overcorrecting, the controller reacts again before its earlier change arrives. Switch to You to try the tap yourself; keep it steady long enough to feel its effect.

Why it matters

Feedback arrives late in many systems. Strong corrections made while earlier actions are still travelling can swing the result from one extreme to another. Patience reduces that tendency. This is an illustrative temperature model, not guidance for operating a real shower.