Ambiguous goals and opaque action-outcome links make established practices self-reinforcing.

Evidence

Therefore, practices, once established, gain momentum more easily and create a fertile ground for developing increasing returns or other types of positive self-reinforcing feedback. … More generally, Pierson considers ambiguity and complexity important conditions, which amount to self-reinforcing effects and subsequent path dependence. — Jörg Sydow, Georg Schreyögg, and Jochen Koch, Organizational Path Dependence, 94

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies path dependence as a product of ambiguity and complexity — the conditions that give established practices momentum.