Feedback Loop is output of a process re-enters as input. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0310, within the Systems family. The core principle: output of a process re-enters as input. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
Scientific Definition
Output of a process re-enters as input.
Plain-English Definition
Output of a process re-enters as input.
Feynman Explanation
Every system you ignore is training itself behind your back.
Core Principle
Output of a process re-enters as input.
Mechanisms
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Inputs (Triggers)
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Outputs (Behaviors)
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Behavioral Signature
Every system you ignore is training itself behind your back.
Examples
- Performance reviews shape next-quarter behavior, which shapes next review.
- Most strategic surprises are feedback loops the org didn't model.
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Original analysis from The Incentives Lab — how this element behaves inside real payoff structures.
Why this element matters to incentive design
When this element shows up in a diagnostic, the instinct is to train people out of it. Training rarely moves it. The mechanism underneath it operates in the Cognition dimension — how do we think?. You can recognize it in the field by its signature: every system you ignore is training itself behind your back. Every element in the Cognition dimension changes the perceived payoff of an action before the action happens, which is exactly where incentive design has leverage.
How it gets exploited
Left undesigned, recommender systems train on the behavior they themselves shape. It is amplified whenever most strategic surprises are feedback loops the org didn't model. Inside organizations that shows up as most strategic surprises are feedback loops the org didn't model. The pattern is the same one Goodhart's Law describes: the measurable proxy attracts the effort, and the purpose behind it quietly loses funding.
How the Lab designs around it
The redesign move is to map loops before tuning metrics. The test of any redesign here is simple: after the change, can you name what the organization is now doing less of? If not, the payoff structure did not actually move.
Famous Experiments
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Design Principles
- Map loops before tuning metrics.
Measurement Approaches
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Evidence
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The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Map loops before tuning metrics.
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Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Negative feedback returns a system toward a target.
Output amplifies input — virtuous or vicious cycle.
Threshold past which small inputs cause disproportionate change.
Clear ownership of outcomes, not just tasks.
Asymmetric information attracts the worst counterparties.
We defer to perceived expertise, rank, or uniform.
Vastness that exceeds existing schemas dissolves the self briefly.
Membership in a group is a baseline human need.
Individually rational choices that produce a collectively bad outcome.
We seek tasks where we feel effective and improving.
Competing loyalties that compromise judgment.
Value is judged against whatever sits next to it.
Where Feedback Loop is cited in the corpus
Essays, field guides, and diagnostics from The Incentives Lab that apply this element.
- EssayGoodhart's Law in the Real World
How measurable proxies capture judgment.
- EssayThe Perverse Incentives Hiding in Your KPIs
Cognitive shortcuts turned into scorecards.
- CourseIncentives 101
The free ten-part primer on reading a payoff structure.
- ReferenceThe incentive glossary
Definitions for every mental model, bias, and fallacy in the corpus.
- ReferenceThe Periodic Table of Human Behavior
The full 1,267-element map this page belongs to.
Questions about Feedback Loop
- What is Feedback Loop?
- Feedback Loop is output of a process re-enters as input. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0310, within the Systems family. The core principle: output of a process re-enters as input. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
- What is an example of Feedback Loop?
- Most strategic surprises are feedback loops the org didn't model. The Incentives Lab catalogs everyday, organizational, and historical instances of this element on its Human Behavior Taxonomy™ page (HBT-COG-0310).
- How is Feedback Loop exploited?
- Recommender systems train on the behavior they themselves shape.
- How do you design around Feedback Loop?
- Map loops before tuning metrics.
- Which behavioral dimension does Feedback Loop belong to?
- Feedback Loop is classified in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™, family "Systems", class "Concept". Its permanent identifier is HBT-COG-0310 and its evidence grade is C.