Research and insights on execution stability intelligence
Explore the research and biological science behind execution stability intelligence.
These resources ground StressCheck™ in the science of stress, adaptive capacity, and system stability under sustained load. The sequence begins with how StressCheck™ detects early execution strain, then follows the science behind why execution risk accumulates before performance breaks. StressCheck™ is not a diagnostic instrument. It provides an early signal to inform, but does not replace, professional judgment.
An overview of how StressCheck™ measures both Stress Load and Stress Sensitivity to detect early execution strain signals before performance degrades.
A systems-based examination of how sustained stress drives biological strain and adaptive capacity depletion, drawing on interdisciplinary research including the work of Dr. Roger McIntyre. This foundation explains why execution risk accumulates invisibly before performance breaks.
Dr. Hans Selye explains how the body responds to any significant demand with a predictable, staged biological response, and that health or failure depends on whether finite adaptive capacity can keep pace with sustained load. First published in 1950, this framework remains foundational to modern stress and systems research.
Bruce McEwen from Rockefeller University clarifies the critical distinction between adaptive stress responses and chronic overload. He introduces the concepts of "allostasis" (achieving stability through change) and "allostatic load" (the wear and tear from sustained activation). This framework explains how protective biological systems become damaging when continuously activated—the precise tipping point StressCheck™ detects.
Karl Weick and Kathleen Sutcliffe examine how mission-critical organizations—nuclear plants, aircraft carriers, hospital ERs—systematically detect and respond to early warning signals before they cascade into failures. Their framework establishes early strain detection as serious operational intelligence, not soft management theory.
A foundational Harvard Business Review analysis of how successful organizations fail under pressure. Donald N. Sull reveals that decline isn't from inaction—it's from "active inertia," where companies respond to strain but amplify problems instead of adapting. This maps directly to organizational stress-distress tipping points.