Anti-pattern
The anti-pattern: understanding locked behind a person, a licence or a login — access controlled by whoever holds the key rather than by whether you need it.
Understanding exists, but you have to get past someone to reach it. A person who must be asked. A licence that must be bought. A tool whose model is only legible inside the tool. A login that a contractor will not be given. The knowledge is not missing — that would be Tribal Knowledge. It is written down, structured, often excellent. It simply sits behind a gate, and the gate is not there because the knowledge is sensitive. It is there because of how the system happened to be built, or because someone benefits from the gate.
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