Recursive failure loops. When systems optimize for their own dysfunction.
Pilor (pee-lor) is a system state where failure becomes the optimization target. The organization unconsciously perfects its dysfunction, creating elegant mechanisms for consistent underperformance. Each iteration makes failure more efficient.
A system fails. Normal response: create processes to prevent recurrence. But the cure contains the seeds of deeper dysfunction.
Signal: "We need better processes"
Reality: Process becomes procrastination
The system starts optimizing around the failure. Workarounds become standard. Exception handling becomes the rule. Dysfunction gets infrastructure.
Signal: "That's just how we do things"
Reality: Failure becomes culture
Success now depends on dysfunction. Remove the failure pattern and the system collapses. People's jobs exist to manage problems that shouldn't exist.
Signal: "We can't change that—everything depends on it"
Reality: Failure becomes load-bearing
The system achieves maximum efficiency at failing. Every improvement makes failure more reliable. Success metrics measure dysfunction optimization.
Signal: "Our failure rate is very consistent"
Reality: Failure becomes excellence
Company X had slow deployments. They added approval processes. Deployments got slower. They added automation to speed up approvals. This created more edge cases needing more approvals.
Five years later: 47-step deployment process. 11 full-time employees managing deployment. Average deployment time: 6 weeks.
The Pilor: They optimized the approval process instead of questioning why deployments needed approval.
If it shouldn't exist, don't make it better. Delete it.
Find the first failure. Everything else is recursion.
Gradual change strengthens pilor. Only disruption breaks it.
Breaking pilor creates mess. That's proof it's working.
Pilor systems defend themselves. They'll convince you that dysfunction is necessary, that failure is actually success, that the problem is the solution. The moment you start optimizing the failure, you've lost.
Stop perfecting failure. Start breaking the loops that bind you.