Critical events mark the shift from decision to self-reinforcing lock-in.

Evidence

First, we find a phase of increasing selectivity, wherein the firm’s management makes certain decisions. A second phase is marked by positive feedback that makes other behavioral options less and less attractive. It is the above mentioned self-reinforcing mechanisms that might in the end lead to a final stage of path dependence where it is extremely difficult for a company’s management to change the once-chosen path. The transition from phase I to phase II is often characterized by a critical juncture or some kind of critical event. — Georg Schreyögg and Jörg Sydow, The Hidden Dynamics of Path Dependence, 372

Categorization

• SEED: An essay on ‘critical junctures’ as the hinge point in institutions, careers, and lives — where a small contingency becomes destiny.