The Efficiency Trap of Systems Thinking

Not long ago, one of my teammates, Sun Chuanqí, wrote a thoughtful piece about the tension between centralized design systems and creative agility. He described how a structured system, which was meant to streamline collaboration, started doing something unexpected: it slowed teams down. Or, more precisely, it slowed new thinking down. It became easier to say, “That’s not in the system,” than to ask, “Why not?”

Sun wasn’t rejecting systems — he was observing what happens when a tool built for acceleration turns into a speed bump. It got me thinking about how systems behave under pressure, and what it really means to think in systems instead of just operating within them.

Systems remove the need to think, but should retain the ability to judge.

A good system lifts the burden of constant decision-making. It gives teams reusable patterns and lets them focus on higher-order problems. But if a system is too efficient — too optimized — it can suppress one of the most human traits we bring to the table: discernment.

I’ve seen this happen with design systems, AI tools, even in hiring frameworks. The moment judgment disappears in favor of default paths, the system stops being a support. And starts being a substitute. It becomes easier to conform than to…