What is Tendency to Minimize Energy Output?

Tendency to Minimize Energy Output is a mental model used for better thinking and decision-making.

How do you apply Tendency to Minimize Energy Output?

To apply Tendency to Minimize Energy Output, identify situations where this framework is relevant, then use it as a lens to evaluate your options and decisions. The model is most useful when combined with other complementary mental models.

What category does Tendency to Minimize Energy Output fall under?

Tendency to Minimize Energy Output falls under the Natural Sciences category of mental models. Other models in this category can be found on the Natural Sciences hub page.

Why is Tendency to Minimize Energy Output important?

Tendency to Minimize Energy Output is important because it provides a structured way to think about problems that would otherwise be approached with intuition alone. Understanding this model helps you avoid common reasoning errors and make better decisions.

Tendency to Minimize Energy Output…

Systems — physical, biological, and organisational — tend toward states that require less energy to maintain. A ball rolls downhill. Organisms conserve calories. People take shortcuts. The tendency to minimise energy output is not a law that nothing ever does hard things; it's a default. When there's no countervailing force, the system drifts toward the path of least resistance. That explains why change is hard, why defaults win, and why "just make it easy" is such powerful design.

Physics: systems evolve toward lower potential energy (e.g. minimum energy principle). Biology: organisms that wasted energy were outcompeted; we're descended from energy conservers. Psychology: cognitive load and effort are costs; we avoid them when we can. The result is inertia around current behaviour and attraction to low-friction options. To get a different outcome, you must either make the desired path lower energy (easier, default) or add energy input (incentives, urgency) to overcome the tendency. You can't assume people or systems will "just" do the right thing if it costs more effort.

The strategic use: don't fight the tendency without a plan. Make the behaviour you want the path of least resistance — default options, one-click flows, fewer steps. If you need people to do something effortful, you need a strong reason (reward, loss avoidance, identity) or you need to make the alternative even harder. The mistake is designing as if users or employees will reliably choose the high-effort option. The second mistake is ignoring that your own organisation will minimise energy too — so process and structure must align with the outcome you want.

Tendency to Minimize Energy Output

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