Episode 74 - The War on Waste Paradox - Chapter 17 - Part 2 - Audio Book

A Consortium of Problem Solvers Podcast of Len Bertain's Audio Books

A brief comment here on the role that Energy plays in our business model. Energy is one of the most important concepts to explain what happens during the War on Waste or any such business initiative. We use the term “energy” to describe the process of increasing the value-adding activity of a company. From my Physics days, I use the Second Law of Thermodynamics to describe energy conservation by introducing another term called Entropy. Entropy is a measure of the disorganization of a system.
The Second Law tells us that if we increase Entropy (decrease order) we will decrease energy and visa versa. This is analogous to what happens if you have teenagers and you leave them alone in the house over the weekend. While you are gone, the disorder increases (increase of Entropy) because there is reduced energy input with your absence. When you return, you restore order (decrease Entropy) with the addition of your (positive) energy.