Interpretive Drift

The system has lost a shared way to interpret what it is seeing. Signals continue to flow, but shared meaning does not.

Signals continue to flow, but shared meaning does not.

Dashboards update. Meetings happen. Reports circulate.

The system looks active.

At the same time:

• The same numbers lead to different conclusions
• Feedback feels accusatory instead of informative
• Escalations feel political instead of diagnostic
• Teams defend positions rather than examine patterns

Work continues, but orientation is lost.

Only observable behaviors:

• Teams disagree on what the same metric means
• Escalations trigger without consensus on severity
• "The data says…" followed by divergent actions
• Reporting volume increases while clarity decreases
• Decisions debated after execution, not before
• Metrics prompt defensiveness instead of diagnosis

If people argue about intent instead of conditions, drift is already present.

Because most systems invest heavily in measurement and lightly in interpretation.

Data pipelines scale faster than shared language. Metrics are introduced without agreement on what they are meant to signal. Leaders assume numbers are self-explanatory.

They are not.

Without interpretive infrastructure, every signal must be negotiated in real time. That negotiation carries emotional and political cost, so people default to defending their position rather than examining conditions.

When meaning fragments:

• Metrics feel like accusations
• Feedback feels personal
• Escalations feel unsafe

Defensiveness is not dysfunction. It is a rational response to ambiguity.

• "This is a communication problem"
• "We need better alignment"
• "Stakeholders aren't on the same page"
• "People are resisting the data"

These explanations focus on coordination. They miss interpretation.

• Decision quality degrades quietly
• Trust erodes without a visible failure
• Escalations multiply without resolution
• Responsibility shifts from sensemaking to self-protection

Even accurate data becomes destabilizing when it lands in fragmented frames.

• FM-01 Responsibility Compression at the Edge
• FM-02 Escalation Inversion
• FM-03 Responsibility Without Authority
• FM-04 Metric Shadowing
• FM-05 Normalized Workarounds