What is entropy?
Entropy is a measure of disorder or randomness in a system. In physics, the second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of an isolated system always increases over time — things naturally move from ordered states to disordered states. A glass can shatter but shattered glass doesn't reassemble. This isn't just a physics concept. It's a universal principle that applies to organisations, relationships, code bases, and life itself. Without deliberate energy input, all systems degrade.
Entropy in business and organisations
Jeff Bezos captured the business application of entropy in his 'Day 1' philosophy: companies naturally drift toward bureaucracy, complacency, and stagnation — what he calls 'Day 2.' Without active effort to resist this drift, organisations become slow, political, and disconnected from customers. Andy Grove made the same observation at Intel: only the paranoid survive, because the natural state of any organisation is decline. Maintaining excellence requires constant energy. The moment you stop investing in culture, processes, and talent, entropy begins to take hold.
Fighting entropy: maintenance is not glamorous but essential
Most people and organisations overvalue creation and undervalue maintenance. Building something new is exciting. Maintaining something that already works is boring. But entropy means that maintenance is not optional — it is the price of continued existence. In software, technical debt accumulates if you stop refactoring. In relationships, connection erodes without consistent investment. In health, fitness declines without regular exercise. The strategic insight: allocate significant resources to maintenance and renewal, not just growth and creation.
Entropy as a decision-making lens
Understanding entropy changes how you evaluate decisions. When considering an action, ask: does this add order or disorder to the system? Does this create structure that compounds over time, or does it create complexity that will eventually need to be cleaned up? The best long-term decisions reduce entropy — they simplify systems, create clear processes, and build structures that are self-reinforcing rather than self-degrading.
The creative destruction connection
Joseph Schumpeter's concept of creative destruction is entropy applied to markets. Existing companies and industries are constantly being disrupted by new innovations. This isn't a bug in capitalism — it's a feature. Entropy ensures that no competitive position is permanent, which creates space for new entrants and new ideas. Understanding this helps founders recognise that even the strongest incumbents are fighting entropy, and that today's moat will eventually be breached without constant reinvestment.