It’s my opinion, having worked in IT in various roles, that there are 3 kinds of systems. First, the informal systems, which are just everyone doing whatever w

It’s my opinion, having worked in IT in various roles, that there are 3 kinds of systems. First, the informal systems, which are just everyone doing whatever works for them. Those systems are flexible, simple, and inefficient. Second, the rigid systems, which tend to crop up when the org grows big enough that the informal systems start getting in their own way. Those are simple, inflexible, and efficient. Third are the complicated systems, which happen when the simplifying assumptions in rigid systems become problems. These are complicated, a bit less efficient than rigid systems, and a bit less flexible than informal systems. Now, the problem with the complicated systems- which tend to become more and more complicated over time- is that they require a dedicated staff to maintain, which tends to grow over time, and so the organization has to be big, and needs to have access to a big profit margin/energy surplus. If that goes away, then yes you have to collapse down to rigid or informal systems. The same process no doubt plays out on a civilizational level too.