Impact Trust • Working glossary

Basin of attraction / stability landscape

Systems sit in stable states until a big enough push tips them into a different one.

Details

Our Take
Powerful visual metaphor for workshops -- the 'ball in a bowl' image works well -- but the technical label is dense. Use the image, not the jargon. Included so you recognise it when complexity practitioners use it.
Examples of Use
Complex systems science
Synonyms/Variants
Regime shift (ecology)
Tipping point dynamies (loosely)
Typical everyday wording
Like a ball in a bowl, stable until pushed hard enough to tip