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“In the classic systems thinking essay, ‘Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System,’ Donella Meadows writes, ‘Leverage points are points of power in a system.’ So, systems change is all about shifting power. However, the implementation of systems change often ignores this central aspect.

“Revisiting the top five leverage points in the system begins to illuminate the extent of the change that is brought just by even one of these. In increasing order of effectiveness, they are:

5. The power to set the rules of the system
4. The power to change or evolve the structure of the system
3. The power to set the goals of the system
2. The power to set the paradigm of the system
1. The power to transcend the paradigm of the system

“Regarding the power to set the rules—incentives, punishments, constraints—Meadows writes, ‘If you want to understand the deepest malfunctions of systems, pay attention to the rules, and to who has power over them.’ For example, capitalism is a system where the rules are designed by owners of corporations, run by corporations, for the benefit of corporations—which is why all others are made subordinate by it. Nonprofits, which themselves require a corporate board and leading executives that make organizational decisions, by design are systems where the power to make rules is monopolized by an elite, and thus, ultimately, are, at their core, not very different from for-profit corporations.”

Article: Systems Change Is All about Shifting Power