Tendencies and Transitions

We live and work in some sort of a system. Our very body is a system. So, developing the ability to understand and work better with systems can be a super power – both as an individual and (even more so) as a leader.

One of the most foundational aspects about systems that we need to understand is that all systems are living, breathing and constantly evolving. However, each one of them has a tendency to be in a specific state or can transition from one state to another.

For example water can transition between solid, liquid and gas but has a tendency to remain in the liquid form, unless acted upon by an external force.

Similarly, every system (including the people we lead) has a tendency, which is what it will return to if left alone (or Homeo stasis). Every system also has potential transitory states that it can move between.

Once we identify the tendency of the system and the potential transitory states that it can move between, it becomes easier and more effective to use them to navigate and direct the system in the direction that would be the most beneficial to us and our teams.