Scientific Definition
A written model of how your specific leverage produces the outcome you care about.
Plain-English Definition
A written model of how your specific leverage produces the outcome you care about.
Feynman Explanation
Without one, 'making a difference' is a feeling, not a strategy.
Core Principle
A written model of how your specific leverage produces the outcome you care about.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
A written model of how your specific leverage produces the outcome you care about.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Founders without a theory of change scale activity instead of impact.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Without one, 'making a difference' is a feeling, not a strategy.
Examples
- Nonprofits use logic models. Operators rarely do — and pay for it in scattered effort.
- Founders without a theory of change scale activity instead of impact.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- One page: inputs → leverage → outputs → outcomes → ultimate change. Update annually.
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.
- One page: inputs → leverage → outputs → outcomes → ultimate change. Update annually.
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.
Basics first (health/finances), then depth (mastery/impact), then altruism (widening circle).
A problem whose solution requires people to change their values, beliefs, or habits — not just apply expertise.
Holding a different — and correct — set of tools than everyone else.
Someone who incites others to take illegal or rash action, often to expose or discredit them.
Sun Tzu's ancient treatise on strategy, deception, and positioning.
Conflict between belligerents with very different resources and tactics.
Start from the desired future and work backward to the steps that make it inevitable.
Winning the disputed population, not just defeating the visible opponent.
Countering hostile narratives with truthful, well-timed alternatives.
Sort situations into Clear, Complicated, Complex, Chaotic, or Confused — each needs a different response.
Eroding the will to act, even when capacity remains.
Munger's principle: the surest way to get something is to deserve it.