The idea, often expressed in writings on Chaos theory, that small changes in one part of a system can produce unpredictable large changes in another part - thus a butterfly flapping its wings in South America might trigger a snowfall in New York.
the phenomenon whereby a small change at one place in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere, e.g., a butterfly flapping its wings in Rio de Janeiro might change the weather in Chicago
A popular term in chaos theory. Best understood through and old litany: For want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost, for want of a horse the rider was lost, for want of a rider, the message was lost, for want of a message the battle was lost, all for want of a nail. It is a statement that small differences in initial conditions can lead to drastically different final outcomes. See also 'Positive Lyapunov Exponent'.
The possibility that a large change can occur from a minor shift in initial conditions. A butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon leading to changes in the location of a typhoon elsewhere in the world. Sensitivity to initial conditions, a chaotic system.
Your career may now be chaotic, complex, or confusing perhaps set in motion early on by simple but inappropriate career decisions made long ago, which amplified themselves over time into distressful or crisis career circumstances now. A butterfly flapping its wings in Iowa could put into motion a set of atmospheric conditions that could culminate in a monsoon in Indonesia. You might not comprehend the future consequences of your early initial error. "The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the level of thinking with which we created them"...Albert Einstein.
Small variations in the initial conditions of a dynamical system produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system.