# The tensions

Source: https://segern.com/practice/the-tensions

When principles pull in different directions

A principle matters most when following it costs something. Care can require more time. Learning can require releasing something unfinished. Simplicity can require a more sophisticated system behind the scenes.

We protect people and the obligations that cannot be traded away first. Then we protect the useful outcome. Within those boundaries, we look for the least burdensome way to achieve it and concentrate craft where it makes the greatest difference.

When a real tension remains, we name it. We record the choice, the person responsible, the cost we are accepting, and what would cause us to reconsider. We do not resolve a conflict merely by finding a more attractive sentence for it.