The Algorithm That Thinks: How Energy Becomes Intelligence By John Raddall | CEO, Quanta Consulting
How the Universe Generates Energy and Intelligence
“You can’t explain intelligence unless you understand how the universe works.” — Richard Feynman (probably)
At Quanta, we spent years searching for the simple pattern, the underlying truth that explains what makes leaders effective, how teams get smarter, how performance improves, and how organisations either evolve… or expire.
We found it.
And it’s not in a competency framework or a motivational quote. It’s in physics.
The Universal Energy Algorithm
At the centre of the diagram is a brain — but it could just as well be a leader, a team, an AI, a company, or the universe itself.
Here’s the loop that runs behind every act of intelligence:
Energy creates potential.
Entropy disturbs it.
Evolution adapts and learns.
That’s it.
Run that loop a billion times, and you get:
A cell that adapts to survive
A leader who shifts strategy
A machine that learns
A team that gets better — together
This loop is recursive. It’s fractal. It scales — from mitochondria to multinationals.
And it's been embedded in the universe since the Big Bang. (Or even before.)
So what does this have to do with leadership?
Everything.
Leadership isn’t about traits. It’s not even about vision.
It’s about knowing how to run this loop on purpose.
At Quanta, we call this Leadership Energy — your ability to:
Inject fresh energy into a system (Think)
Disrupt unhelpful routines (Act)
Create learning through interaction (Interact)
When leaders stop running the loop, energy drops. Entropy takes over. Performance flatlines.
Deus ex Machina vs. Emergent Intelligence
Why quick fixes fail — and fractals win
There’s a concept from ancient Greek theatre called deus ex machina — “god from the machine.” Whenever the plot became too tangled, a god would be lowered onto the stage by crane to magically resolve the chaos.
Boom. Problem solved. Curtain falls.
We still do this. In business. In politics. In transformation programs. We wait for a saviour solution — a new CEO, a shiny tech platform, a last-minute strategy pivot, an HR workshop— to “fix everything.”
But that’s not how real systems evolve.
Real intelligence doesn’t descend from a crane.
It emerges — from inside the loop: Energy → Entropy → Evolution
This is the Universal Energy Algorithm. It’s how the universe gets smarter. It’s how you get smarter, your team gets stronger. It’s how your business grows, sustainably.
So what?
If you're a CEO, a transformation leader, or a people strategist — this algorithm should be your fractal anchor for intelligent performance.
It tells you:
Where energy is generated, not just consumed
When entropy is useful, not dangerous
How to evolve faster than the world around you
Want to be a truly great leader? Run the algorithm
Want ROI? Run the algorithm.
Want high-performance culture? Run the algorithm.
Want to outlearn your competition? You know what to do.
One last thing
Yes, that is a hot air balloon in the distance.
Because energy, when used well, injects lift. And we believe intelligence isn’t something we inherit — it’s something we generate. Continuously.
Loop by loop. Fractal by fractal. Day by day.
It's a simple choice.
