Theorypedia Editors

Business & Strategy

The Peter Principle

In hierarchical organizations, employees tend to be promoted until they reach a position where they can no longer perform competently.

Technology & Innovation

Network Effects

Network effects occur when a product or service becomes more valuable as more people use it.

Economics & Decision-Making

Goodhart's Law

Goodhart's Law explains why metrics lose their usefulness the moment you start optimizing for them directly.

Business & Strategy

First-Mover Advantage

First-mover advantage is the competitive edge companies gain by being the first to enter a new market or introduce a new product category.

Science & Systems

The Butterfly Effect

The butterfly effect describes how tiny initial changes in complex systems can lead to dramatically different outcomes.

Economics & Decisions

Black Swan Theory

Black Swan Theory explains how rare, unpredictable events with massive impact shape our world far more than we realize.

Philosophy & Ethics

Occam's Razor

Occam's Razor is the principle that the simplest explanation that fits the facts is usually the correct one.

Science & Systems

Feedback Loops

Feedback loops occur when outputs of a system circle back as inputs, creating self-reinforcing or self-correcting patterns.

Economics & Decisions

The Cobra Effect

The Cobra Effect occurs when an attempted solution to a problem makes the problem worse.

Economics & Decisions

Jevons Paradox

Making something more efficient often leads to using more of it, not less, because efficiency makes it cheaper and more attractive to use.

Technology & Innovation

Moore's Law

Moore's Law predicts that the number of transistors on a computer chip doubles roughly every two years, driving exponential improvements in computing power.

Technology & Innovation

The Gartner Hype Cycle

The Gartner Hype Cycle maps how new technologies move through predictable stages of inflated expectations, crushing disappointment, and eventual practical adoption.