Recurring structural behaviors that signal progressive system degradation under pressure.
Full Definition
Instability Patterns are repeatable behavioral and structural configurations that emerge when containment mechanisms weaken.
They are not isolated failures.
They are recurring system responses to unresolved pressure, authority ambiguity, or degraded decision integrity.
Instability patterns often appear gradual:
Escalation loops, decision latency, authority diffusion, execution drift.
The system rarely collapses immediately.
It accumulates distortion through repetition.
Recognizing instability patterns early allows intervention before structural breakdown becomes visible at the outcome level.
Structural Role in NAP
Within NAP, Instability Patterns function as macro-level indicators of containment failure.
They signal misalignment between:
Decision Boundaries
Activation Lines
Authority Containment
Pressure Absorption Capacity
They often precede measurable degradation in Execution Stability.
Engineering against instability patterns requires reinforcing structural containment rather than correcting isolated errors.
