As ecosystems evolve, Nature manages their transitions in multiple ways. I’ve written about two of these already, and today I’ll explore a third. The first was the transition we experience from one season to the next. The second, which I wrote about last week, was about how migration can be a model for managing transition. The third way Nature models transition is through thresholds.
A concept inspired by resilient systems
I first encountered the concept of thresholds while researching resilient systems. Resilience is defined, in part, by a system’s ability to absorb disruption and still maintain function. When a disruption shifts a resilient system’s purpose and organizing principles, that system is said to cross a threshold.
We often think of ecological systems as resilient because they can absorb disruption—until they can’t. For example, a freshwater catchment system that regularly absorbs storm surges from the ocean may, at some point, take in enough saltwater to flip from a freshwater system to a saltwater one. That’s a threshold being crossed. Once it happens, the life that depended on fresh water can no longer be supported, and the system that was once resilient no longer functions the way it did.
I see thresholds in Nature when I’m on the North Shore. I have a beautiful photo of a spot on the Temperance River, where it comes down from the mountains and flows into Lake Superior. There’s a precise point where the river stops being a river and becomes part of the lake. That’s a threshold you can actually see.
Why this matters for teams and systems
Thresholds matter in systems change work. Learning to track thresholds in living systems is an important capacity to develop. It helps us understand what must be crossed to tip a team into dysfunction, or to help it evolve into a healthier, more resilient system.
I bring up thresholds as another model for transition because, with people, a transition often happens the moment we gain an insight or see the world differently. Once we cross that threshold in our minds, we can’t go back to seeing things the old way. Crossing a threshold of worldview or mindset can happen quickly, even though it may take longer to fully implement. The deep change happens the moment we cross the threshold.
Naming your own thresholds
I invite you to reflect on your own life: what thresholds have you crossed, and how did they change what you did from that moment forward?
- Perhaps it was an insight about work-life balance that shifted how you showed up in your personal life.
- Maybe it was recognizing that an organization was no longer nourishing you, and you needed to make a change.
- Perhaps it was a concept you learned that made you a more effective leader—one that, once understood, reshaped your habits, your mindset, and the way you lead.
These are normal parts of our lives, but we don’t always have the language to name them. Naming them is what lets us see, understand, and make meaning of the shifts and transitions we’ve lived through.
