Systems that Sustain: Lessons that Nature Never Forgot but We Did

By H. Krishnanunni, IAS

Observation
Butterfly flaps…
Implementing technology is rarely as simple as conceiving it. Across multiple projects at every level of the Indian public sector, I have seen well-intentioned technology initiatives not yielding intended results—not because of lack of effort or investment, but because of recurring structural challenges. Too often, technology adoption leads to layering digital interfaces atop legacy systems without fundamentally rethinking entrenched processes, approvals, and priorities.

Instead of unlocking the full potential of digital transformation, these initiatives risk creating digital replicas of old inefficiencies, sustaining bottlenecks, diffusing accountability, and even amplifying friction. Despite the criticality, projects struggle with this reality; early digitalisation efforts may appear modern on the surface but behave like their analog predecessors underneath.

This experience revealed that the heart of the problem lies not in the technology itself, but in how systems are designed and adapted to real-world needs ...