Resilient Systems
Catastrophic failure can emerge even when digital systems are excellently designed and operated. The most consequential breakdowns occur when control, dependency, and exit constraints collide.
An account is disabled despite an excellent service level agreement. A service becomes unavailable after a legal shift. A platform policy change cascades across dependent systems. A supplier acquisition quietly alters jurisdictional exposure or cost.
These are not technical malfunctions. They are structural failures.
Failure Modes
Recurring patterns through which dependency becomes fragility.
- Coercive Control - When external legal or political authority can compel system behaviour or restrict access.
- Operational Control Asymmetry - When systems depend on upstream actors for authentication, updates, licensing, or orchestration.
- Ownership Drift - When embedded systems outlive procurement assumptions as governance or control shifts.
- Entrenched Dependency - When integration depth and switching costs make exit impractical before conditions change.
- Chokepoint Concentration - When a centralised upstream node supports multiple critical functions, amplifying disruption.
Personal Implications
The same dependency risks examined at systemic scale, applied within a personal digital infrastructure and tested against real-world constraints.
Why It Matters
Dependency accumulates quietly. Convenience increases. Integration deepens. Optionality narrows.
Resilience must be built before disruption forces it.