The previous six Danger Flag chapters focused on character traits that predict bad behavior. This chapter shifts to **structural problems** — organizational vulnerabilities that make a catastrophic downfall predictable, regardless of the individuals involved. **The Templar case**: The Knights Templar went from a dozen poor knights to one of the most powerful organizations in the world, held that position for 150 years, then "seemingly very abruptly" were threshed apart, leaders burned, Order dissolved. The structural problems that made this predictable were visible long before the fall. **Why structural problems matter**: Even good people in well-run organizations can be destroyed by structural vulnerabilities they're blind to. "The biggest danger is in blindness to them — people often fail to realize the sources of their authority and power when they've traditionally held those roles for long periods of time; thus, they can become blind to rising risks and potential downsides." **Mitigation starts with awareness**: "Structural problems can be mitigated over time, but first and foremost comes awareness of them." The Google example — Sergey Brin and Larry Page hired Eric Schmidt as CEO, recognizing the structural problem of two co-founders both wanting the top spot. Awareness of the risk allowed them to design around it before it became a crisis. --- *Source: [[Danger Flags 7 - Structural Problems]] — Sebastian Marshall (Pragma), 2026-05-13*