Law of Requisite Variety

A principle from cybernetics, introduced by W. Ross Ashby, stating that in any given system, the element with the greatest flexibility of behavior will exert the most control over the system. In NLP, this law is applied to communication and personal effectiveness: the person with the most behavioral options — the most ways to respond — will have the greatest influence in any interaction. It underpins the NLP emphasis on developing behavioral flexibility and expanding one's range of responses.