Creode is a neologism, a term coined by epigeneticist C.H. Waddington, to describe a stabilized pathway along which developmental probability is higher. Originally intended to describe biological evolutionary processes, the creode has strong analogs to Christopher Alexander’s configuration space, describing decision-making in project development.
Further, the concept is applicable in a variety of complex information spaces, to understand development along a particular path as being more attractive and facile than others. Some examples might be the expansive responsibilities assigned to institutions like Police and Schools. Because those organizations are already in operation, sociotechnical structures exist to support those organizations, and organizational agents are coming in contact with a served population, it is easy to assign or assume additional responsibilities that are unrelated to the primary function of the organization.
For example, police officers whose primary function is law enforcement and criminal investigation, may be also tasked with outreach to persons experiencing homelessness simply because they are already periodically in contact with people from that population. Similarly, public school employees in the USA have state-mandated reporting requirements, assigned additional obligations to monitor students for signs of physical abuse or neglect. The phenomenon of teachers accruing a portfolio of non-educational child-related responsibilities might be thought of as chreodic.
C.H. Waddington
Bruno Latour — where are the missing masses? p163