Definition
When harmful defaults become entrenched through dependencies, network effects, or contracts that block reform. It is prevented by deciding whether the system should act at all before it starts, by keeping its decisions open to challenge, and by checking continuously for drift from what it was authorized to do.
Lock-in usually begins as normalized dependence: reliance nobody records until reform requires reversing it. Tracking dependency state turns lock-in from a late discovery into a measurement taken early.
Patterns