About the MHA Institute Logo

You may have wondered about the swirl in the MHA logo.  This swirl is actually two sigmoid curves that symbolize how MHA Institute works with organizations and their people to learn at the speed of change.

Charles Handy, in his book The Age of Paradox, defines this sigmoid pattern as learning a new service while delivering an established one (see diagram below).

According to Handy, all situations, even business, have a life cycle that looks like a sigmoid curve.   A learning pattern is a result of two parallel sigmoid curves operating at the same time  starting a new way of working while maintaining the old.

Donella Meadows, Jorgen Randers, and Dennis Meadows published their book, Limits to Growth, in 1972, and again in 1992 and 2004.  Their initial reason for publishing the book was to make people aware that our reliance on consumption and growth, in light of environmental limits, requires us to Plan for Limits  to develop a new way of living.  Their latest publication of this book, subtitled The 30-Year Update, speaks to the overwhelming limitations facing the human species.

Recall the negative archetype Limits to Success.

• There is a period of success, followed by a plateau that occurs as limits are being imposed on the system.  If left unchecked, this is followed by system breakdown (see diagram below).

• Limits are a direct result of the success in a system, and are inherent in the system itself.  Until limits show up, people do not believe that there are limits, or do not act as if there are or will be limits.
• During success, effort always produces more success and a movement forward.  On the plateau, the amount of effort is now used to stay in one place, rather than to create more success or forward movement.  On the system breakdown or crash and burn part of the curve, no amount of effort can keep the system from degrading.
• You can use the analogy of being on a treadmill.  As success happens, you can go faster and faster on the treadmill, showing continuous progress.  As you plateau, it takes every bit of your energy just to stay on the treadmill.  As the system breaks down, you start falling off the treadmill.

Recall that Limits to Success has, as its counterpart, the positive archetype Plan for Limits.

• The ideal time to plan for limits is before the system plateaus.  The closer you are to days 5-15 of the time delay curve, the better your chances are of never having to deal with the negative effects of limits.  The first curve is the path that creates the limits.  The second curve is the path that deals with the limits that are or may be created (see diagram below).

• However, when on the success part of the curve, people do not feel the need to plan for limits.  It can be very hard to convince people or to sustain momentum for planning for limits.
• When the system plateaus, people do not believe that they can stop long enough to plan for limits, because they are using all of their energy just to stay in one place.  This is why it can be difficult to get people to plan for limits, even when they know they should be planning for limits.  No matter how ineffective their efforts may be, it is still better to stay in one place than to stop.

• When the system starts to break down, people know they cannot keep up, so they are now more willing to stop and plan for limits.  At this point, they may be in despair, and therefore are willing to try just about anything.  The problem here is that they can get caught in a quick fix, which can ease pressure, but that requires a longer term solution.  It is hard to convince people to do longer term planning for limits once the pressure has eased.  The reason has to do with an already low supply of energy.

In the end, all problem solving is planning for limits, whether you are on the curve going up, at the plateau, or crashing and burning as the curve takes a downturn.

MHA Institute is dedicated to helping people realize their limits, and to plan for these limits in ways that are beneficial to everyone involved.  Systemic practice is one way in which to plan for limits.