Local Tidiness

Every part is neat; the whole is unknowable. Each folder has a sensible name. Each repo has a README. Each schema follows the standard. Zoom out one level and nobody can tell you what the system is, what depends on what, or where a given fact actually comes from. This is the failure mode that hides best, because it passes every local inspection. Audits look at parts. Reviews look at parts. The problem only appears when someone new arrives, or when something has to change across a boundary — and then it appears all at once.