step change

In common usage a step change happens when a situation changes in a discontinuous way: a big policy change after an election, a currency devaluation, or the discovery of gold at Sutters Mill, for example. That is to say, a change like a step in an otherwise smooth graph. The concept has been borrowed from mathematics and technology where the phrase step function is rigorously defined.

'Step Change' is sometimes considered to be management speak and to have replaced 'Quantum Leap' within today's business world. Catastrophe theory is one mathematical theory used to explain step changes.

See also

• Paradigm shift
• Quantum leap
• Social change
• Stepchange

Donate to Wikimedia