Base120 · Systems
Leverage Points
Identify intervention points where small changes produce disproportionate effects
When to use
"Use when effort is limited and impact must be disproportionate. Identify the leverage points — places where small changes produce large effects. Meadows's hierarchy of leverage points ranks them from least to most powerful."
Example
"In a software team, the leverage point is not working harder (low leverage) but changing the deployment frequency (higher leverage) — deploying 10x per day instead of once reduces batch size, reduces risk per deployment, and accelerates learning. A small change to deployment cadence produces disproportionate improvement."
Common misuse
"Choosing leverage points based on familiarity rather than impact. The most familiar intervention (work harder, add people) is often the lowest leverage. The highest leverage points (paradigm shifts, goal changes) are often the most uncomfortable."