Trace what could downstream follow.
Pick a structural shift - AI commoditization, ecosystem control, the right to coordinate - and follow the typed causal edges across all four chains.
The map shows what's connected. The pathways guide a reader through curated questions. Cascade does something different - it picks a starting concept and traces the typed causal edges (enables, causes, produces, cross-layer-driver) outward, surfacing failure-modes, counter-strategies, and gates that may bind along the way. Each cascade reads across all four chains: worker · workflow · firm · industry.
What this is. Structural cascade reading: what could follow if this fires. Edge directions are causal; timing, magnitude, and conjunction logic (AND/OR) are not encoded. Not a prediction or simulation.
10 curated cascades
What happens when AI commoditizes?
From task-level AI commoditization through vertical encroachment to the wrapper trap - and the counter-strategy.
- visited
- 45
- edges
- 52
- chains
- 4 / 4
- failure modes
- 5
- counters
- 2
ai-commoditization What happens when agentic AI deploys in a workflow?
From W0 deployment through information-asymmetry collapse, coordination-cost drop, and workflow recomposition.
- visited
- 53
- edges
- 75
- chains
- 4 / 4
- failure modes
- 3
agentic-execution What happens when the industry bottleneck migrates?
Jacobides' core: bottleneck migration drives orchestrator emergence and margin pool restructuring.
- visited
- 30
- edges
- 36
- chains
- 4 / 4
- failure modes
- 5
industry-bottleneck-shift How does a firm end up in the wrapper trap?
Trace backwards from the wrapper failure-mode to the structural conditions that produce it.
- visited
- 47
- edges
- 63
- chains
- 4 / 4
- failure modes
- 8
- counters
- 4
wrapper What changes when coordination no longer needs consensus?
From the new coordination regime through workflow recomposition, decision-rights redistribution, and firm form.
- visited
- 55
- edges
- 75
- chains
- 4 / 4
- failure modes
- 5
- counters
- 1
coordination-without-consensus What happens when a role gets unbundled?
From worker-level task unbundling through rebundled roles, workflow recomposition, and labor-market clearing.
- visited
- 51
- edges
- 65
- chains
- 4 / 4
- failure modes
- 4
- counters
- 1
unbundling--roleworkflow-context What follows from holding ecosystem control?
Once an orchestrator holds ecosystem control, value capture and industry form cascade.
- visited
- 16
- edges
- 17
- chains
- 4 / 4
- failure modes
- 4
- counters
- 1
ecosystem-control How do decision rights evolve continuously?
D-layer dynamics: continuous redistribution of decision rights as AI capability evolves.
- visited
- 63
- edges
- 74
- chains
- 4 / 4
- failure modes
- 2
- counters
- 1
- gates
- 27
d-o3-decision-rights-evolution What binds the legacy-workflow rigidity gate?
Why this gate binds: the D-RM rate-mismatch between slow workflow systems and fast capability evolution.
- visited
- 7
- edges
- 6
- chains
- 4 / 4
- gates
- 1
legacy-workflow-rigidity-gate What follows from holding the Right to Coordinate?
From the meta-capability through workflow ownership, firm-level decision rights, and industry-level orchestration.
- visited
- 16
- edges
- 22
- chains
- 4 / 4
- failure modes
- 4
- counters
- 3
right-to-coordinate How to read a cascade
- Start node — the structural shift the cascade traces from. Could be a mechanism (AI commoditization), an outcome (the wrapper trap), a meta-capability (Right to Coordinate), or a gate (legacy-workflow rigidity).
- Hops by depth — what fires within 1 hop, 2 hops, 3 hops. Each step is an edge with a typed
causal direction. Stage-transitions (e.g.
[W3→W4]) and cross-chain jumps (🔀 workflow→org) are tagged. - Failure modes & counter-strategies — red callouts for failure-modes the cascade reaches
(wrapper, lock-in, encroachment), green callouts for counter-strategies that
contradictsthem. - Gates that may bind — if the cascade touches any gating-condition, the rate-mismatch binding mechanism (D-RM) is surfaced. This is why the cascade may stall in practice.
- Chain × stage table — reads the cascade as coverage across the four chains. A healthy cascade typically touches 3-4 of the 4 chains.