Tendency to Minimise Energy Output

The Tendency to Minimise Energy Output is a Mental Models that describes how biological systems and entities tend to minimise the energy they use to accomplish a task. If we think of human beings and organisations, we can see displays of this tendency in many areas, from watching mind-numbing TV shows for hours to find the shortest route to our destination. Companies, and people, call it efficiency and it’s a perennial goal in companies. Resistance to change can also be a way of minimising energy; change requires investment; personal change can require a significant amount of energy, and not everyone is willing to invest it. Understanding this tendency can be very powerful; a consequence of it is that you should minimise the entry barrier when you are trying to introduce change. If the energy required to change is minimal, companies and individuals will be more likely to change. It also applies to new products, new habits; you name it. Remembering that making things easy is a requirement to reduce the energy required to use those things and people tend to minimise their energy use will increase your chances to get your products used. Feel free to replace products with emails/services/output. Another mental model that display this tendency is The Map is not the Territory.

Obsidian Links
[[bikeshed-effect]]
[[map-not-territory]]
[[mental-models]]

Obsidian Tags
#mental-models