Ten Percent Law
Updated 2026-08-05
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
The ten percent law states that as energy passes along a food chain, only about ten percent of the energy at one trophic level is assimilated by the next; the rest is lost as heat or spent in respiration, which is why chains rarely exceed five levels. In organizations the same logic is applied to information and directives: every additional layer costs roughly ninety percent of accuracy and execution energy, which is the argument for flattening the hierarchy and cutting out trophic levels.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Level count: count the levels standing between a decision and its execution. - Attenuation math: estimate ten percent survival per layer to find the energy left at the end. - Flatten decision: remove the levels where the remaining energy no longer justifies the cost.
Anchor fast decisions
Lindeman's efficiency describes how energy transferred upward is mostly spent on metabolism and lost as heat, in line with the second law of thermodynamics. Because so little survives each step, the biomass that can be supported at the top is tiny and food chains stay short.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_efficiencyverified
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