When I was a student at the Evergreen State College, I noticed a foot-worn path from the parking lot to the campus that most students walked on. It was the most direct path.

One day, I noticed that the path had been paved. The system, the college, paid attention to the people voting with their feet and responded. My heart lit up! I saw in that moment a strengths-responsive system, but I didn’t know it yet.

There were no shaming signs, no redirections, no assertions of power. I could hardly believe my eyes. That was 40 years ago. I think Strengths-Responsive Systems has been growing in my heart since the day I saw that path. –Jennifer Rose