The Decision Nobody Made
Most of a system's shape was never chosen. It's the fossilized remains of whatever was expedient the first time, and it constrains everything downstream as firmly as if someone had decided it on purpose.
Blog
The Moment It Stops Being Provisional
Accreted structure isn't only an archaeology problem. It's being created right now, and the moment a temporary shape becomes permanent is observable while it's happening.
The Question That Doesn't Decay
Provenance is a proxy. What actually holds a system's shape in place isn't anyone's reasoning — it's the count of things standing on it, and that you can measure at any time.
One Choice, Two Costs
Picking a metric and starving the work it can't see aren't two separate problems. They're the same act, viewed from either side.
The Metric Stopped Being the Thing
A proxy measurement is only honest for as long as nobody is optimizing against it yet. The moment it becomes the target, it starts drifting away from the thing it was supposed to represent.
The Work That Never Shows Up
Every measurement system creates two categories: work that counts and work that doesn't. The second category is where prevention lives, and it starves quietly.
Someone Is Always Waiting on You
The fastest responder on a team accumulates dependency without anyone deciding to give it to them. Being good at unblocking others is how you become the block.
The Test Is Whether You Can Leave
You can't fix a dependency bottleneck by working harder inside it. The only honest measure of how well a team is structured is what happens during the week nobody can reach you.
You Are in a Queue You Cannot See
The person you asked is holding eleven other requests. You can't see them, so you assume you're the only one — and that assumption is what makes the queue grow.
Assume It's Load-Bearing
You inherited code with no explanation attached. The safe default is not caution, and it is not confidence — it is finding out.