True north: the work of the system actually gets done, in real contact with the world.
Drive toward units that are each a living whole — doing genuine work in their own
territory, as autonomous as they can bear, leaning on the center only for what they
truly can't do alone.
You are closer when a unit delivers something its environment accepts on its own
terms; further when it produces motion without contact, or hands its real work
upward. When a unit can no longer act without the center, push autonomy back down
to it.
Friction between units belongs to s2; making them add up belongs to s3.