The Sub-Competent Saviour Loop
How Incompetence, Dependency and Protection Keep Dysfunctional Systems Alive
Sharon Mackenzie — Author & Social Science Writer
Published by Spirit Led Counselling · Written by Sharon Mackenzie
How incompetence, dependency and protection keep dysfunctional systems alive.
About the book
Dysfunctional systems rarely survive by accident.
This book examines the loop where incompetence, dependency and protection reinforce one another — and how that quiet arrangement keeps a struggling system running long past the point of health.
What this book explores:
- Incompetence that is tolerated, protected or rewarded
- Dependency as a system's stabiliser
- The saviour role and what it costs everyone
- Why dysfunctional systems stay alive
Human Systems, Book Three — The Loop.
Rescue can be the very thing that keeps a broken system standing.
About the author
Sharon Mackenzie is an Australian author and social science writer. Her writing draws together social science, counselling, chaplaincy and governance experience, alongside years of close observation of community life — how groups form, how culture takes hold, and what helps people belong.
Alongside Human Systems she writes on grief, identity, creativity and belonging in The Art of Being Human, and on prayer and inner restoration in The Sanctuary Within — all published by Spirit Led Counselling.
Meet Sharon · Visit SharonMackenzie.org
Tap the cover to find it on Amazon.
The Loop — part of the Human Systems body of work.
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Essays & videos
From Sharon
Essays, videos & reflections on being human.