"Intervening in a system at the wrong level can make it harder to fix.
The quote is short, but the word intervening carries the weight. In a migration that looks reversible until the data moves, it tells you where reality will push back, even when the plan looks clean.
In a migration that looks reversible until the data moves, you can do everything “right” locally and still make the global system worse. The seams are where the cost lands. You see it in a local optimization that creates global instability. Define the decision rights before the crisis, or the crisis will define them for you.
Donella H. Meadows is a reminder to keep it concrete. Write what you are not doing and the edge you will defend, so scope cannot expand quietly. Let the boundary do the work.