Planned pattern
Visibility Becomes Surveillance
Observability meant for learning becomes a pressure system, so useful signal gets hidden.
How it starts
More visibility is needed because work is hard to understand from the outside.
How it drifts
The signal is used to rank, shame or pressure people. They adapt by hiding mess instead of exposing it.
What to watch
Watch for dashboards that reduce candour, incident notes that get blander and metrics that nobody trusts.
Questions worth asking
- Who feels safer because this is visible?
- Who feels watched?
- What signal disappeared after measurement began?
Comment carefully
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