Culture, Fire, and Ice.

Safi Bahcall, noted physicist and author of bestselling ‘Loon Shots,’ makes a compelling case for understanding ‘control parameters’ and how they affect the world we live in. When explaining this concept to an audience, he’ll hold a glass of water and swirl his finger in it. Then he’ll claim that at 32 degrees, something magical happens - more becomes different. He’ll no longer be able to swirl because as we all know, the same molecules will have reconfigured themselves -- water now becomes ice.

Then comes the claim – ‘the two determents of the magical tipping point -- when a liquid becomes a solid, are temperature and molecular bond strength.' These are the control parameters. Pouring salt on roads in winter will turn ice to water - something we do because we can't control the temperature. In his book, Safi explores the nature of control parameters for everything from traffic flow vs traffic jam to brush fires that burn out vs ones that erupt into wildfire.

Why are we talking about this?

Because the same principle is at work in determining what causes a shift in Operating State – say from insular to tumultuous, or insular to synergistic (see our blog "The Power of Operating States").

Operating States

When resilience and ingenuity are enhanced and balanced, the organization will naturally evolve toward a higher performing state. When diminished or unbalanced, the organization will gravitate into a lower performing state. Resilience and ingenuity are Operating State's control parameters.

In today's economic climate, where performance is at risk of being adversely affected by the dynamics of an unpredictable global market, understanding how to increase and maintain resilience and ingenuity is critical to sustained performance. Want to learn more? Click here to read more about how we can help.

Want to connect? Contact us directly at CultureMatters@BusinessIngenuityInc.com.