Glossary
Thriving in Entropy is a series of frameworks, real-world cases, and neuroscience backed tools for adaptive, resilient thinking that excels in complexity and change.
A
Adaptive Leadership: A leadership approach focused on helping organizations thrive in complex, uncertain environments by developing five key skills: sense-making, decision-making under uncertainty, learning agility, network mobilization, and resilient mindset.
Adaptive Leadership Assessment (ALA): A diagnostic tool used to evaluate an organization's adaptive leadership capabilities across its five core skills.
Adaptive Leadership Index (ALI): A measure of an organization's adaptive leadership capability, calculated as (Sense-Making Score × Decision-Making Score × Learning Agility Score × Network Mobilization Score × Resilient Mindset Score) ÷ 10000.
Adaptive Tension: The productive level of challenge within an organization that pushes teams to evolve and innovate; one of the five core principles of complexity-adapted design.
Antifragility: The property of systems that gain strength from disorder, stress, and volatility rather than merely resisting them; a key concept in designing organizations that thrive in entropy.
Antifragility Assessment Framework (AAF): A diagnostic tool that evaluates an organization's antifragility across three phases of an evolutionary cycle (Variation Generation, Selection Mechanisms, Retention Mechanisms) and five dimensions per phase, providing a comprehensive view of how well the organization can benefit from volatility and uncertainty.
Antifragility Opportunity Index (AOI): An index measuring an organization's capability in the Variation Generation phase of the evolutionary cycle, reflecting its ability to create diverse options. Formula: (CogDiv × DecExp × BounSpan × ConVar × ProdTen) ÷ 10000.
Adaptation Selection Index (ASI): An index measuring an organization's capability in the Selection Mechanisms phase of the evolutionary cycle, reflecting its effectiveness in choosing the best adaptations. Formula: (RapExp × SelCrit × EvidDec × SelTime × PortTh) ÷ 10000.
Adaptation Retention Index (ARI): An index measuring an organization's capability in the Retention Mechanisms phase of the evolutionary cycle, reflecting its ability to make successful changes stick. Formula: (KnowCod × PracInt × CapDev × CultRein × StrucAdj) ÷ 10000.
B
Boundary Permeability: The ability of an organization to selectively allow external information, ideas, and resources to flow in and out; one of the five core principles of complexity-adapted design.
C
Collective Intelligence: The enhanced problem-solving capability that emerges when diverse perspectives are effectively integrated; a critical capability for navigating complex challenges that exceed individual cognitive capacity.
Collective Intelligence Assessment (CIA): A diagnostic tool used to evaluate an organization's collective intelligence across five key dimensions: cognitive diversity, psychological safety, interaction patterns, aggregation mechanisms, and facilitation approaches.
Collective Intelligence Index (CII): A measure of an organization's ability to leverage diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, calculated as (CogDiv × PsySafe × IntPat × AggMech × FacApp) ÷ 10000.
Complexity Adaptation Assessment (CAA): A diagnostic tool that evaluates an organization's ability to thrive in complex environments across five dimensions: distributed authority, network structure, boundary permeability, adaptive tension, and enabling leadership.
Complexity Adaptation Index (CAI): A measure of an organization's ability to thrive in complex environments, calculated as (DistAuth × NetStruct × BoundPerm × AdapTens × EnabLead) ÷ 10000.
Complexity-Adapted Design: An organizational design approach that prioritizes adaptability in fast-moving, unpredictable environments through distributed authority, network structures, boundary permeability, adaptive tension, and enabling leadership.
D
Distributed Authority: The practice of pushing decision-making power to where information resides in an organization rather than centralizing it at the top; one of the five core principles of complexity-adapted design.
E
Enabling Leadership: A leadership approach focused on creating conditions for teams to succeed rather than directing every move; one of the five core principles of complexity-adapted design.
Entropy: In organizational contexts, the natural tendency for systems to become more unpredictable, complex, and chaotic over time as they interact with their environment.
Entropy Adaptation Index (EAI): A measure of an organization's ability to adapt to increasing entropy, focusing on how well the organization reconfigures itself in response to changing conditions.
Entropy Response Assessment (ERA): A diagnostic tool that evaluates how organizations respond to unpredictability across five dimensions: perception patterns, response repertoire, learning velocity, reconfiguration capability, and entropy advantage mindset.
Entropy Response Index (ERI): A comprehensive measure of an organization's overall capability to respond effectively to entropy, calculated as ESI × EAI.
Entropy Sensing Index (ESI): A measure of an organization's ability to detect and interpret signals of increasing entropy in their environment.
Evolutionary Cycle: A three-phase process (Variation Generation, Selection Mechanisms, Retention Mechanisms) through which antifragile organizations continuously adapt to and benefit from volatility and uncertainty.
N
Network Structure: An organizational design that emphasizes connections that allow information and resources to flow quickly where needed; one of the five core principles of complexity-adapted design.
O
Opportunity Engine: A systematic approach to identifying and capitalizing on emerging possibilities in volatile environments through pattern recognition, rapid experimentation, and adaptive execution, often described via the Opportunity Transformation Cycle (Spotting, Cooking, Testing, Growing).
Opportunity Transformation Assessment (OTA): A diagnostic tool used to evaluate an organization's capability across the four stages of the Opportunity Transformation Cycle.
Opportunity Transformation Index (OTI): A measure of an organization's ability to convert emerging possibilities into tangible value, calculated as (Spotting Chances Score × Cooking Up Options Score × Testing Fast Score × Growing Success Score) ÷ 1000.
R
Resilience Assessment Framework (RAF): A diagnostic tool used to evaluate an organization's resilience based on the five pillars of resilient design.
Resilience Design Index (RDI): A measure of an organization's ability to withstand and recover from disruptions, calculated as (FR × LC × AC × GD × RF) ÷ 10000, where FR=Functional Redundancy, LC=Loose Coupling, AC=Adaptive Capacity, GD=Graceful Degradation, RF=Rapid Feedback.
Resilient Organizational Design: An approach to structuring organizations that enables them to maintain essential functions during disruptions and recover quickly afterward, based on five key principles: Functional Redundancy, Loose Coupling, Adaptive Capacity, Graceful Degradation, and Rapid Feedback.
S
Strategic Adaptation: The practice of maintaining clear strategic direction while continuously evolving tactical approaches based on new information and changing conditions.
Strategic Adaptation Assessment (SAA): A diagnostic tool that evaluates an organization's strategic adaptability across five dimensions: direction over destination, options over predictions, experimentation over analysis, evolution over execution, and positioning over planning.
Strategic Adaptation Index (SAI): A measure of an organization's strategic adaptability, calculated as (DirDest × OptPred × ExpAnal × EvoExec × PosPlan) ÷ 10000.
U
Uncertainty Navigation Assessment (UNA): A diagnostic tool that evaluates an organization's ability to navigate different types of uncertainty across five dimensions: uncertainty perception, information processing, decision approach, action orientation, and learning agility.
Uncertainty Navigation Index (UNI): A measure of an organization's overall uncertainty navigation capability, calculated as (UP + IP + DA + AO + LA) / 5, where UP=Uncertainty Perception, IP=Information Processing, DA=Decision Approach, AO=Action Orientation, LA=Learning Agility.