Less fragile, less brittle

Fragile, brittle systems are no fun.

They’re unlikely to last for a long time.

They break, and never when you want them to.

They require your concern, care, and emotional labour.

So how do we make systems less fragile, less brittle?

Easy.

Simplify, test, and over-compensate.

Simplify: less will go wrong if less can go wrong.

Test: less will go wrong if you fix what goes wrong.

Over-compensate: if <10 means failure, give it >20.