My great-uncle NC Surya wrote often about the topic of ‘specific diseconomy’ — a measure of the degree to which systems are self-undermining.  In his case, as a doctor, he was interested in the degree to which the medical system contributed to people’s sickness, and thereby perpetuates itself.  The concept applies anywhere — degree to which legal system contributes to injustice or IT systems contribute to inefficiency — but it happens gradually so systems get more stuck over time…  This recent SSIR article entitled The Nonprofit Paradox (pdf)  has a similar flavor I thought worth sharing focusing on non-profits.  In this case, he talks about how nonprofits can take on the personality of the problem they try to solve.