Paving desire path as an example of probing for dispositionality

Complex system should be probed to reveal its dispositional state.

However, the idea of Dispositionality though can feel very abstract. In the Cynefin Basecamp Nov 2023, the example used is the idea of a desire path.

A desire path looks like this (from reddit (opens new window)):

As you can see here, the architect has crated a path, but people's desire (disposition) created a different path.

An architect, however, can reverse their sequence. Rather than paving a path first, you can reveal the desire path, then pave it (Sequence is a crucial attribute of a process). Another example from reddit: The Oval walkways at Ohio State University were paved based on the students' desire paths (opens new window)

Another example from reddit (opens new window):

---

References

Cynefin Basecamp Nov 2023 Similar images were used in the course.