Scientific Definition
Nonlinear systems are highly sensitive to initial conditions.
Plain-English Definition
Nonlinear systems are highly sensitive to initial conditions.
Feynman Explanation
A butterfly flaps its wings. A supply chain collapses.
Core Principle
Nonlinear systems are highly sensitive to initial conditions.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Nonlinear systems are highly sensitive to initial conditions.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
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Complex systems produce outcomes that are hard to predict and control.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
A butterfly flaps its wings. A supply chain collapses.
Examples
- Small scheduling changes cascade into major project delays.
- Complex systems produce outcomes that are hard to predict and control.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Build buffers and avoid optimizing every margin away.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Build buffers and avoid optimizing every margin away.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
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.
Small visible disorders signal that bigger ones will be tolerated.
Combining substances to create a new material stronger than its parts.
A single constraint limits the throughput of an entire system.
A system's throughput is constrained by its single slowest step.
Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.
Adding people to a late project makes it later.
A substance that speeds up a reaction without being consumed.
Inputs combine under conditions to produce new outputs — sometimes irreversibly.
Software architecture mirrors org structure.
Working together has a cost that scales with the number of people.
The threshold at which a system becomes self-sustaining.
Designing systems for the lowest-capability user produces resilience for everyone.