While I'm on the subject of ants, here is an interesting illustration of how multiple feedback loops cause surprising, paradoxical behavior:

Of Fire Ants & Feedback Loops

X removes Y, ultimately making Y worse (and similar paradoxes). This analogy originally had a political bent (see the post's numerous Iraq-related comments) but applies pretty universally.

Sometimes wild success or failure (a.k.a. tipping points) is stumbled upon, fueled by these unexpected feedback loops.

Sometimes feedback loops are more subtle, harder to measure, and therefore harder for number-crunchers to believe. E.g. greed, which contains the seeds of its own destruction.

Sometimes people keep whacking at one problem the same way, making it worse, but unwilling to change because they can't understand why it is failing. Silicon Valley is rife with these all-or-nothing single-feedback-loop companies an interesting side effect of the venture capital feedback loop.

Sometimes people identify a couple feedback loops and able to blend them together, creating runaway successes or unique, carefully balanced ecosystems. (There's gold in them thar ant hills.)

But it is always healthy to brainstorm potential feedback loops and keep an eye out for them. E.g. compare how your company thinks about raising/reducing prices with how the Fed thinks about raising/reducing interest rates.