No. 336 · Fixing problems · Biology
Ecosystems
Nothing acts alone: a change in one place travels along links you cannot see.
In the Almanac
“Wolves in Yellowstone”, 1995 · “Shopify”, 2009
Both stories in full, three ways to use it and where it misleads.
Get the AlmanacQuestions
What is Ecosystems?
An ecosystem is a community of living things interacting with each other and their environment. Nothing acts alone, so changing one part sends effects travelling to places you did not expect, as Yellowstone discovered when wolves returned and rivers changed.
How do you use Ecosystems?
Use it before any big decision: ask who and what is connected to the thing you are changing. Map the hidden dependencies at work, trace savings through your whole budget, and build supportive surroundings for new habits. You will never predict every ripple, but you will catch the biggest ones.
When does Ecosystems matter?
Ecosystems is one of the 40 mental models for fixing problems, the situations where you ask: Why does this keep going wrong, and how do I fix it for good? Within that, it belongs to “How systems push back”, alongside Bottlenecks, Feedback Loops and Homeostasis.
What is an example of Ecosystems?
Two stories show it at work: Wolves in Yellowstone (1995) and Shopify (2009). Both are told in full in The Mental Models Daily Almanac, which has two stories for each of its 365 models.
Which mental models are related to Ecosystems?
Law of Unintended Consequences, Network Effects and Niches. Ecosystems itself comes from biology.