Designing Systems That Hold Up Under Pressure

Designing Systems That Hold Up Under Pressure

Most systems work when conditions are ideal.
Pressure is where the truth shows up.

Early design decisions either absorb pressure or amplify it.
Over time, the difference becomes impossible to ignore.

Pressure reveals design debt.

Under stress, unclear systems surface fast.
Workarounds multiply.
Decisions slow.
Teams react instead of lead.

That’s rarely a people problem.
It’s a design problem.

Designing for the happy path is easy.
Designing for reality requires restraint.

I assume interruption, change, and lost context by default.
Systems that can’t handle that don’t scale.

Clarity beats cleverness.

When systems are calm, people perform better.
Even when stakes are high.

Structure is a leadership choice.
And structure is strategy.

‍