A complex evolving system, such as a planet, an ecosystem or a business, learns through feedback.

That means at least 4 things:

• There has to be room within the ‘normal process’ for variation.
• There has to be a way of recognising repeated variations that should be part of the normal process.
• There has to be a way of quickly and easily capturing these into the new ‘normal process’.
• There has to be enough ‘slack’/redundancy in the whole system to make the first 3 possible and practical.

Without these, a system fossilises, becomes irrelevant and ultimately dies.

Thanks to Seth Godin for the prompt.