"Efficiency masks risk by narrowing the field of attention.
Read the quote as instruction, not as comfort. In an architecture review where two constraints collide, the word efficiency is where the cost hides. If you miss it, you will pay it later.
In an architecture review where two constraints collide, people argue about preferences when the real issue is structure. You see it in optimizing away buffers until the system can no longer absorb variance, where the system teaches everyone the wrong behavior. Name what you are refusing to optimize, so future changes do not quietly destroy the property you thought you were protecting.
John Sterman is a reminder to keep it concrete. State the win you are buying and the cost you are taking on, so it cannot hide inside execution. Save it where decisions live.