About the index
Patterns shape
our experience.
A text-led field guide to recurring responses that undermine the systems they are intended to improve.
Recognising the recurring failure
Anti-patterns are familiar approaches that can produce persistent, undesirable results. They appear in organisations, management, design and software: a decision delayed by analysis, a tool used beyond its purpose, a structure that conceals the problem it was meant to solve.
This index brings 78 entries into a common reading environment. Two fields—Social and business operations, and Software engineering—organise six categories. Each card opens an overview, followed by a full article where a linked Wikipedia source is available.
Systems, information and feedback
Norbert Wiener (November 26, 1894 – March 18, 1964), the American computer scientist, mathematician and philosopher, provides a point of reference for this project through his foundational work in cybernetics, systems thinking and feedback loops.
“Information is information, not matter or energy.”
— Norbert Wiener, Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine
His portrait accompanies Musica Universalis, the site's optional listening experience. Use Listen to open the player; playback starts with your Play action.
Reading the sources
The selection follows the supplied anti-pattern index. Wikipedia text is presented as a text-only adaptation, with article attribution, revision and licence links. Some older links redirect to broader articles; entries without an available standalone article retain an editorial overview and a source note.
The labels are a way to examine context, incentives and consequences. A practice's inclusion in the index does not mean it is harmful in every setting.