Scientific Definition
Systems tend toward disorder unless energy is invested to maintain order.
Plain-English Definition
Systems tend toward disorder unless energy is invested to maintain order.
Feynman Explanation
Order is rented, not owned.
Core Principle
Systems tend toward disorder unless energy is invested to maintain order.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Systems tend toward disorder unless energy is invested to maintain order.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Quality requires continuous investment, not one-time effort.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Order is rented, not owned.
Examples
- Codebases, organizations, and processes all decay without active maintenance.
- Quality requires continuous investment, not one-time effort.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Budget for entropy. The fight against it is permanent.
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.
- Budget for entropy. The fight against it is permanent.
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.
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.
Small visible disorders signal that bigger ones will be tolerated.
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.
Nonlinear systems are highly sensitive to initial conditions.
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.