This document summarizes the plateau effect through 7 elements: 1) immunity to interventions over time, 2) greed leading to local optima, 3) bad timing of interventions, 4) flow issues in automated systems, 5) distorted data obscuring real risks, 6) distraction reducing performance, and 7) failing slowly over many small incremental changes. The document provides examples and studies to illustrate each element and argues that understanding the plateau effect is important to causing meaningful long-term change.