Editing Twelve leverage points (section)

=== 9. Length of delays, relative to the rate of system changes ===
Information received too quickly or too late can cause over- or underreaction, even oscillations. {{quote|For example, the city council is considering building the wastewater treatment plant. However, the plant will take 5 years to be built, and will last about 30 years. The first delay will prevent the water being cleaned up within the first 5 years, while the second delay will make it impossible to  build a plant with exactly the right capacity.}}