Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off
a tornado in Texas? —Edward Lorenz

I previously mentioned that every force has an equal and opposite force. But it doesn’t stop there. Every force also induces a cascade of other forces. Remember how the chair you are sitting on is pushing up against the weight of your body? If the chair is pushing up, according to Newton, it must also be pushing down. And indeed it is. The chair is pushing down into the floor with the force of your mass, plus its mass times the acceleration of gravity.

But you say, “If the chair is pushing down into the floor, then the floor must be pushing up on the chair.” And indeed it is. You can see how the forces continue to cascade—until something far away may feel the original force. The cascading effect is similar to how the force of an earthquake in one part of the ocean can cause a wave that arrives on the other side of the world in a matter of hours.

Because forces and changes are like opposite sides of the same coin, changes have the same effect. One change causes another change.

Not only do forces and changes induce a cascade of other forces and changes in one direction, but they spread out like a fan in multiple directions, effectively multiplying. Keep in mind that the resisting forces will multiply accordingly.
 

Assess and map the fan out by following these four steps.

First, indentify what other forces are being induced by each previously identified force. How will they fan out? Who is being impacted and how?

Second, forecast what other changes will be induced by a particular change. Again ask, “Who will be impacted and how?”

Third, for each of the analyses above, identify a change for each force and a force for each change.
Finally, identify at least one resisting force for each force. Try to put names of people and organizations on all forces and changes.

How exhaustively you perform this analysis should depend on the size of the order at stake and the complexity of the proposed change initiative. For example, if you are an information technology system integrator proposing to change a business process that will impact tens of thousands of people in a Fortune 100 company, you will likely be expected to perform an exhaustive analysis.

Identify how forces are fanning out in the organization.hierarchy of needs. Forecast how changes might cascade through the organization. Identify forces that will resist the changes.