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What are they?

Triggers are the interventions - moments, or actions - that create the final momentum to cause a system to tip. They are the final push of the ball over the top of the hill, after which momentum will carry it all the way to the bottom.

Why are they important?

Knowing what the triggers are is not always essential, but understanding what is happening when a system shifts, or what needs to happen for a system to shift, is very useful. Understanding triggers helps us identify what we are working towards, and whether it is a trigger that we can bring about, or whether we need to focus on preparing for a trigger that may be caused by others.

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Peace demands the united efforts of us all. Who can foresee what spark might ignite the fuse?

Haile Selassie

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Click on the arrows below to expand the questions which feel relevant and interesting to the change that you are working towards

Where to start

• What are the triggers that could shift the system you are working in?
• What makes something a trigger?
• What happens if the trigger comes before we are ready? How can we prepare?
• What would it mean if your goal was a trigger?
• What conditions, feedback loops and triggers have sparked rapid, positive system shifts?

Questions to go deeper

• What happens when we can’t know what the trigger is or was?
• What makes a system tip from order, through chaos, to another state of order?
• How do we find the right moment to trigger change?
• What makes a system tip from order, through chaos, to another state of order?
• How can I notice if a system is getting closer to tipping, before the trigger happens?