Carrying Capacity
+description
This concept enables us to take into consideration the biological or organic limits of a given system.
Carrying capacity in general focuses on how much can be held by a container. In an environmental sense, it is how much life can be held in a given container such as a specific ecosystem. Carrying capacity answers the question of what the biological limits might be. Carrying capacity takes into account what flows in, such as birth rate, what flows out, such as rate of death, and various limits to life such as access to water and rate of consumption and recycling of water.
More broadly speaking, carrying capacity points to a relatively stable state of dynamic equilibrium.
We can often be seduced by growth graphs that have the familiar hockey-stick pattern. These do not account for carrying capacity and the metastable states. Look for where the curve is really an S-curve. Carrying capacity enables us to ask what can increase capacity rather than assuming it is a fixed boundary.
Carrying Capacity and Thrivability
How do we navigate for a more thrivable world? How can we see if we are there? One way to think about that is to find the thresholds for aliveness that we want to hold to. What is the carrying capacity that creates aliveness for me as a person? What carrying capacity do my relationships hold? Our organizations? Our systems?
The Covid Pandemic put a certain type of graph front and center, taking over the visual field usually composed of hockey stick growth. Suddenly, everyone was talking about collectively staying within the lines of hospital carrying capacity. There became a sort of recognition that the health system could manage a certain amount of hospital visits, but that very quickly the capacity to address intensive care needs and particularly the equipment needs for intubation and ventilators would hit a threshold where anyone who needed them, covid or not, wouldn’t get them. There would not be enough beds, doctors, nurses, and tools to care for the sick. And the early warning signs that the carrying capacity had been exceeded was the ugly triage strategies: who gets access first and who is left to die. Triage is of course not new.
Given our environmental and social issues, we might want to explore where else we are at, or have exceeded, our carrying capacity and have shifted to triage.
And also, for the super creative, consider what factors figure into the shape of carrying capacity? Might it be expanded and extended?
https://thrivable.decko.org/Carrying_Capacity
This concept enables us to take into consideration the biological or organic limits of a given system.
Carrying capacity in general focuses on how much can be held by a container. In an environmental sense, it is how much life can be held in a given container such as a specific ecosystem. Carrying capacity answers the question of what the biological limits might be. Carrying capacity takes into account what flows in, such as birth rate, what flows out, such as rate of death, and various limits to life such as access to water and rate of consumption and recycling of water.
More broadly speaking, carrying capacity points to a relatively stable state of dynamic equilibrium.
We can often be seduced by growth graphs that have the familiar hockey-stick pattern. These do not account for carrying capacity and the metastable states. Look for where the curve is really an S-curve. Carrying capacity enables us to ask what can increase capacity rather than assuming it is a fixed boundary.
+Personal
Personal Capacity to Carry On
Remember Puppy surprise? How about crisis surprise!
Melissa and I want to talk about Carrying Capacity this month. I suppose that is in part due to the Crisis-puppy surprises that have us examining our own carrying capacities.
Is it three, four, or five?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efH56w7RAiE
So, personal carrying capacity starts us off. https://thrivable.decko.org/Carrying_Capacity
This concept enables us to take into consideration the biological or organic limits of a given system.
Carrying capacity in general focuses on how much can be held by a container. In an environmental sense, it is how much life can be held in a given container such as a specific ecosystem. Carrying capacity answers the question of what the biological limits might be. Carrying capacity takes into account what flows in, such as birth rate, what flows out, such as rate of death, and various limits to life such as access to water and rate of consumption and recycling of water.
More broadly speaking, carrying capacity points to a relatively stable state of dynamic equilibrium.(And boy howdy was Melissa’s dynamic equilibrium thrown off last week)
We can often be seduced by growth graphs that have the familiar hockey-stick pattern. These do not account for carrying capacity and the metastable states. Look for where the curve is really an S-curve. Carrying capacity enables us to ask what can increase capacity rather than assuming it is a fixed boundary.
How would you describe carrying capacity? Is your carrying capacity also a puppy surprise (because that would be…erm… surprising). And what are you personally doing to nurture your own personal capacity?
+Relational
Relocating Relational Reciprocity
Carrying Capacity in the relational realm gets even more interesting. A big shift happens in relationships when we stop asking what is the “right” thing for any individual and instead ask, how can these two meet each other. Who has room to move in support of the shared relationship?
A long time ago, I shifted over to believing that relationships seem more like triangles. There is person A and person B and then there is the relationship, point C. If we just look at what person A does for person B and vice versa, we get caught in tit for tat and some objective standards of behavior. When we shift toward person A and person B increasing the capacity of point C.
For example when dividing chores. If A and B try to bargain with each other about who will do the dishes and who will take out the garbage, we can end up in tit for tat. If instead we say that these are the things that need doing, how can we take care of our connection © in addressing it, then we are much more likely to solve together for what serves each while getting the work done. We are also much more likely to get that this week B has some travel plans, so will do both chores next week.
Do you notice a difference in your sense of reciprocity between your relationship and the person you are in relationship with? Does contributing to the relationship feel a bit like taking care of yourself? What is the carrying capacity of another person and how is that different from the carrying capacity of the space you share with that person?
+Organizational
Can Organizations Carry Capacities Across the Road?
So, are you ready for the calculus of all the people in the organization and their relationships with each other to determine the carrying capacity of the whole which is then some additional capacity beyond all the relationships held within?
Just kidding.
The carrying capacity of the organization also includes the financial capacity, the brand recognition, the network of relationships the org can count on for additional resilience, and so on.
You can increase organizational carrying capacity by growing relationships both within the organization and beyond the organization. And the capacity can be limited by external factors too, such as regulation and environmental limits.
Think Boston Market expanding too quickly or We Work making such a splash only to shrivel in the pandemic. Perhaps you have a similar story about an org you were involved with.
What do you notice are indicators of hitting limits to a carrying capacity in organizations? And what strategies do you admire about extending organizational carrying capacity?
+Systemic
Mmmm, Donuts!
We can, of course, be inspired here by Kate Raworth’s work on Donut Economics which shows many systemic carrying capacities.
The donut attempts to show both the carrying capacity relating to human well being and the capacity of the environment using multiple and common indicators for each.
How has the pandemic shifted carrying capacities around your purpose in both the human realms and the environment we share?
