Fix the system, and the technology follows

Automated controls endure Manual controls erode; automated ones endure The initial remedies in an RCA I reviewed this week leaned on humans remembering to do the right thing under pressure — pre-checks, sign-offs, coordination steps. Those degrade exactly when you need them most: mid-incident, at 2 a.m., during a rushed hot fix. The durable fix is almost always architectural — prevent the unsafe thing rather than discouraging it. Takeaway: Rank your fixes by how little they depend on human vigilance. Automate the guardrail; use the checklist as backstop, not front line. Prioritization Prioritization is often deciding what to defer — and ownership is what makes deferral safe With a couple of key people out this week, my job wasn’t doing more; it was deciding what could wait. I pushed an external partner conversation out until the right decision-maker was back, and canceled meetings that couldn’t be productive without them. But deferral only works if someone clearly owns the thing…