complexity

Too Much to Move.

We often imagine change as a clean swap of parts, one process out, another in, and we keep telling ourselves that with enough focus and discipline the machine will run better.

Eva Tomas Casado

19 Sep 2025 — 5 min read

Image created with DALL-E AI.

When the Present Becomes Too Heavy to Change.

In my last piece I wrote about scaffolds, about the quiet power of structures that begin as support and then linger, and I ended with the thought that ethical design is not only about building well but also about knowing when to let go.

That line keeps unfolding for me, because it is not just a design ethic, it is a way of thinking about transformation itself.

We often imagine change as a clean swap of parts, one process out, another in, and we keep telling ourselves that with enough focus and discipline the machine will run better.

But systems are not machines.

The Art of Letting Go Without Falling Apart

Transformation isn’t subtraction. It’s not about taking something out to make space. It’s the reconfiguration itself that changes everything. Letting go isn’t absence, it’s a shift in how things relate so something new can begin.

After we build: The Ethics of Scaffolds

Most structures are built to last. But what if that isn't the point? Sometime care looks like building, and sometimes care looks like stepping aside.

The Limits of Design: Why Emergence Can’t Be Engineered

We like to believe that if we build the right structures, policies, teams, strategies, or incentive systems, something good will emerge. We hold on to the hope that good intentions paired with solid design will stabilize the future. But if we’re honest, we often don’t know whether they will.

On Frames and Fences

We say we want less regulation—until we need it. The real tension isn’t between freedom and control, but between rules that trap and rules that enable.