Small Breaks Compound Quietly

Trust breaks in predictable ways.

Inconsistency breaks authenticity. You say one thing Monday. Opposite thing Friday. People stop believing either version is real.

Poor judgment breaks logic. You make bad calls repeatedly. People stop trusting your thinking.

Self-interest breaks empathy. You optimize for yourself at their expense. People realize you don't actually care.

Incompetence breaks competence. Obvious. You can't do the work.

Unreliability breaks reliability. You don't deliver. You don't follow through. You say you will and you don't.

The breaks aren't dramatic. They're cumulative.

Small fractures. Micro-breaks. Each one individually forgivable.

But they compound.

Ten small breaks equal one big break. Twenty small breaks equal structural failure.

People don't announce they no longer trust you.

They just stop being vulnerable with you. Stop bringing you problems. Stop asking for help.

The trust died quietly. Through a thousand small breaks nobody named.

Related notes: Three elements or none