Activation Energy - Mental Model

The page defines activation energy as the initial energy needed to start a reaction and extends the idea to work, habits, and change. It stresses that starting is hard, but keeping a process going also requires effort, so both the launch and the maintenance cost matter.

Reading notes

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• The writer describes how speaking to large groups felt hard until a management promotion made it unavoidable, and preparation lowered the effort needed to begin.
• Activation energy is presented as the amount of energy needed to start a reaction in chemistry.
• The concept helps explain why starting tasks is difficult and why New Year’s resolutions fail.
• The match example shows friction creating heat that provides enough energy for ignition.
• Two uses of the idea are given: energy to start a reaction and energy to maintain it.
• The page says it is easier to decide to go to the gym than to follow through even once.
• To address activation energy, the text recommends identifying what lowers or raises the energy needed to start and what resources make a change sustainable with minimal effort.
• The ADKAR framework is mentioned, with Reinforcement as the final letter, meaning change may not last without consistent effort.
• The page says brains look for the least energy-consuming path.
• Onboarding is used as an example of a costly process that should be designed with low activation energy.
• Suggested ways to reduce activation energy include checklists and automation, mentors, and continuous improvement.
• Each onboarded person should be able to fix what was not working so the next hire does not repeat the same traps.
• The page says resolutions fade when they are not maintained, like unmaintained processes.
• It also connects activation energy with inertia, described as a tendency to resist changes in a state of motion.
• The final point is that activation energy is a complementary mental model to inertia because it highlights both the effort to start and the effort to sustain change.