A structural exchange between competing constraints within a decision environment.
Full Definition
A Trade-off occurs when improving one system variable requires sacrificing another.
Under pressure, trade-offs become compressed and less visible.
Poorly engineered systems disguise trade-offs as simple decisions, creating structural debt.
Healthy systems surface trade-offs explicitly, allowing strategic containment.
Trade-offs are not failures.
They are structural realities that must be governed.
Structural Role in NAP
Within NAP, Trade-offs operate inside the Strategic Decision Frame and are absorbed by Decision Boundaries.
When trade-offs are hidden, Decision Integrity erodes.
Engineering clarity around trade-offs protects Operational Coherence.
