Understanding Patterns: Escalation

Another pattern that it is useful to recognize as you put the pieces of your dream together is escalation. To me, escalation brings to mind growing up at the end of the Cold War where world military superpowers completed for nuclear supremacy. Ironically, it resulted in there being enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world several times over. But escalation affects more than just world conflict. Escalation is a common pattern that affects many of us in everyday situations, like family quarrels, price wars and legal battles.

The pattern of escalation is what happens when two or more competitors observe the actions of the other and look to 'one-up' or outperform the other. What usually happens is that both competitors find themselves in a place that they would never have viewed as acceptable at the beginning of the competition. The pattern can result in a destructive cycle which consumes resources for very little benefit.  

The escalation pattern, when drawn, looks like two cycles which intersect at the point where a decision is made to 'one-up' the other. The cycles feed off of each other in a Figure-8 pattern.

There are two ways to stop the escalation pattern. The first one is to de-couple the two cycles that are feeding off of each other.  This is something that can be imposed upon competitors such as when quarrelling children are separated by a parent or when a mediator is assigned to contract negotiations which have broken down. 

The same effect can also result when one of the competitors chooses to de-couple from the other. Interestingly, it only takes one of the competitors to de-couple to end the escalation. For example, someone in a quarrel may decide to listen and respect the other's point of view rather than continuing the argument or retaliating. An ancient teaching calls this 'turning the other cheek'. 

Once the cycles are de-coupled, the competitors tend to return to actions in line with their individual purposes and the senseless escalation ends.

The second way to stop the escalation pattern is for the two competitors to join together around a shared purpose. This tends to be a riskier path but it can result in benefits for both the competitors. For example, two organizations who are competing to move into a new area may decide to embark upon a shared venture instead. This is an example of a both-and strategy rather than an either-or strategy that we talked about in the post on Polarity Thinking. 

It is possible to avoid escalation as we walk into our dream by remaining true to our personal vision and core values, even in the face of competition, and by trying to build shared purpose, wherever possible, with those around us.  

Note: the 'escalation' pattern is one of eight common systems archetypes in systems thinking.