Impact Trust • Working glossary

STC model (Stress, Trigger, Crisis)

A framework distinguishing slow background pressures (stresses), fast local events (triggers), and periods of system instability (crises).

Details

Our Take

Very useful once explained; the acronym is opaque. Worth teaching in workshops but not using in shorthand. The power is in the distinction: stresses are slow and systemic; triggers are fast and local; crises are the periods when the system is between states.

Examples of Use

Cascade Institute

Synonyms/Variants

Stress-trigger-crisis framework

Typical everyday wording

Distinguishing slow pressures from sudden shocks from the crisis itself