Balancing

A balancing structure is one that demonstrates just what the title implies. The relationships interact in such a manner that they endeavor to bring a balance between entities. Filling a bathtub may be a common example of this which everyone should relate to. Given that I have an empty Bathtub with a desire to have a Full Tub so I can take a bath the two values are out of balance. The difference between Full Tub and Bathtub creates a gap. It is this gap that induces me to adjust the Faucet Position such that water at the appropriate temperature adds to the Bathtub. As the Bathtub fills the gap gets smaller and as it approaches zero, when Full Tub is reached, I close the faucet. How rapidly the Bathtub fills depends on the rate of the water flowing as a result of the faucet position.

The convention I consistently use is yellow for Stocks, things which accumulate or decline over time, and green for variables which change instantaneously. And the model should be documented sufficiently to remove any ambiguity between what the relationships imply.

And, goal seeking is the characteristic which results from the relationships which can not be found in any of the individual elements or relationships. The typical behavior of the elements of this structure is as depicted in the following graph where the current state approaches the desired state as the gap and the action get smaller.

To develop a better understanding of the relationships and their implications you can interact with the Insight Maker model used to create the above graph. This will be accessible in the Archetypes segment.

Over the years I'd done numerous versions of this structure. Here's one that may be of some interest.