Life's Principles System Audit
Diagnostic Baseline Audit
On Earth, life exists within a set of boundary conditions—gravity, solar radiation, water, and limited resources. Over 3.8 billion years, every surviving species has had to solve the same core challenges: how to grow without degrading its habitat, how to respond to sudden change, and how to use energy and materials efficiently.
The result is a set of deep, recurring strategies—often called Life's Principles—that show up again and again across diverse forms of life as reliable patterns for long-term viability. This audit looks for the presence and strength of these patterns to understand the vitality of your organization, coalition, or system.
When to Use
- • Start of major initiative
- • After rupture or failure
- • System feels brittle or stuck
- • Every 3-6 months
Time Required
- • Group: 2-3 hours
- • Individual: 45-60 min
Who Should Participate
- • Diverse perspectives
- • Decision-makers
- • Impacted stakeholders
Objectives
- • Establish baseline
- • Surface weak points
- • Identify experiments
Evaluation Scale
The Life's Principle is largely absent or not supported by current conditions.
The Life's Principle appears inconsistently or informally.
The Life's Principle is intentionally practiced in some areas.
The Life's Principle is built into regular ways of working.
The Life's Principle is deeply embedded, regenerative, and systemic.
The principle does not apply to this system.
Evolve to Survive
Continually incorporate and embody information to ensure enduring performance.
Evolve to Survive
Continually incorporate and embody information to ensure enduring performance.
Reflection Question
When this system learns something important, how effectively is that learning embedded into its "operating code"—its norms, decision rules, structures, incentives, and shared practices—so it persists beyond any one leader, project, or moment?
Score
Replicate Strategies that Work
Repeat successful approaches.
Reflection Question
How systematically does the system identify, codify, and scale successful patterns so they do not remain isolated events?
Score
Integrate the Unexpected
Incorporate mistakes in ways that can lead to new forms and functions.
Reflection Question
How effectively does the system leverage mistakes, disruptions, and unexpected challenges as the raw material to generate new strategies and beneficial functions?
Score
Reshuffle Information
Exchange and alter information to create new options.
Reflection Question
To what extent does the system actively exchange and alter information to produce new combinations and options, rather than just circulating existing data?
Score
Ready to synthesize your findings?
Export your audit as a PDF to share with your team, or continue scoring to build a complete picture of your system's vitality.