Pattern → Control Mapping
Failure patterns tell you what’s happening.
Controls tell you what to do about it.
This page maps the recurring patterns of system drift (like Verification Gap, Gatekeeper Capture, Authority Without Friction) to the control families that reliably reduce them:
- Verification (proof survives pressure)
- Counterweights (power meets friction)
- Correction Loops (small routine correction beats crisis audits)
Use this map to move from diagnosis to deployable safeguards—at any depth: civilizational, institutional, organizational, team, individual, or technological.
How to Use This Page
- Start with the pattern you’re seeing.
- Identify the primary failure mechanism (what’s drifting).
- Apply the minimum viable controls that create friction, evidence, and routine correction.
- If you can’t prove the control is working, you don’t control the risk—you’re just hoping.
The Mapping Logic (Simple, Repeatable)
Patterns are not “topics.” They are failure modes under pressure.
Each pattern maps to:
- What breaks first (truth, permission, independence, dissent, incentives)
- What good controls look like (verifiable, independent, routine, enforceable)
- Where it must exist (one or more of the Six Depths)
- What evidence should exist (logs, audits, tests, escalation traces, exception budgets)
The Safeguard Families
Verification
- Make claims provable.
- Make permissions auditable.
- Make reality tamper-evident.
Counterweights
- Separate duties.
- Protect dissent. Prevent gatekeeper capture.
- Preserve independent review.
Correction Loops
- Normalize early correction.
- Budget exceptions.
- Run drills.
- Build escalation paths that work under pressure.
Pattern Index
Pick a pattern to see the drift mechanism, primary depth(s), minimum viable controls, and what “proof” looks like.
Verification Gap
When systems can’t prove what they’re doing, trust is replaced by assumption.
Authority Without Friction
Power operates without meaningful challenge, review, or constraint.
Dependency Trap
When people or institutions become unable to function without a single actor or system.
Incentives Outrunning Safeguards
Rewards push behavior faster than controls can safely contain it.
Exception Drift
Temporary exceptions quietly become normal operating behavior.
Gatekeeper Capture
Those meant to enable flow begin controlling it for their own advantage.
Bad News Suppression
Problems go unreported because speaking up carries personal or professional risk.
Prestige → Dominance Shift
Respected leadership slides into rule through status, fear, or control.
Oversight Theater
Oversight exists in form, but lacks independence or real corrective power.
Crisis as Audit
Correction only happens after failure becomes too large to ignore.
Learn It in the Wild
Patterns are easiest to learn by seeing them in the wild.
Daily Brief
Live signals mapped to patterns and recommended controls
Field Notes
Case-style diagnostics (FAIL / INCONCLUSIVE / PASSED)
SpiralWatch
Controls + evidence packs for AI systems under pressure
Why this Exists
Civilizations and organizations don’t fail because they lack values.
They fail because values are not enforced under pressure.
Patterns make drift visible. Controls make correction possible.
“If you can’t prove it, you don’t control it.”
BALANCE THE TRIANGLE LABS 