In software projects, lock-in rarely happens overnight. It is not caused by a single mistake, a crisis, or one bad decision.

Most products become locked through the accumulation of reasonable decisions that are never revisited.

That is why many teams reach a point where they say:

“We didn’t really do anything wrong…
So how did we end up here?”

The invisible impact of decisions

Every decision in a software project:

  • solves a problem today,
  • but also limits future options.

At first, these limitations are invisible. The project is still moving forward.

The code works.
The product is in use.
Features are being shipped.

The problem begins when the context changes, but the decisions do not.

Lock-in that starts during the MVP phase

During MVP stages, teams often make decisions like:

  • “Let’s keep it simple for now”
  • “We’ll change this later”
  • “We don’t need that yet”

These decisions are usually correct for an MVP. The issue arises when they are automatically carried forward into later stages.

The MVP is over. The product starts to grow. But decisions are still operating with early-stage assumptions.

This is where lock-in quietly begins.

Limits that surface during growth

As the product grows:

  • the user base expands,
  • use cases multiply,
  • teams get larger.

Growth does not create new problems. It exposes the limits of existing decisions.

Teams start to say:

  • “This is hard with our current setup”
  • “Changing this feels risky”
  • “We didn’t plan for this”

At this stage, the issue is not technical. It is the lack of questioning whether previous decisions are still valid.

When does a system start to feel legacy?

A system does not need to be old to feel legacy.

A modern system, built with current technologies, can still be legacy.

If:

  • certain areas are avoided,
  • small changes carry disproportionate risk,
  • decisions are defended rather than evaluated,

the product is effectively locked.

This is when teams ask:

“Should we just rewrite it?”

But that question usually comes too late.

The real issue: unowned decisions

The most common pattern we see in practice is this:
Decisions are made, but their lifespan is never defined.

Teams rarely ask:

  • “Under what conditions does this decision stop being valid?”
  • “When will we revisit it?”
  • “What changes once we start scaling?”

Without these questions, decisions:

  • quietly become permanent,
  • reduce flexibility over time,
  • and eventually lock the product.

A healthier decision mindset

Teams that avoid lock-in treat decisions not as absolute truths, but as temporary assumptions.

They:

  • move fast when deciding,
  • regularly re-evaluate decisions,
  • adjust without hesitation when context changes.

This mindset enables:

  • flexibility during MVP,
  • balance during growth,
  • control during legacy stages.

Closing thoughts

What locks software products is not:

  • complex architectures,
  • wrong technologies,
  • or weak teams.

The real cause is this:

Decisions that were right once, but never questioned again.

That is why the most important question is:

“Is this decision still valid today,
or are we just following it out of habit?”

Teams that keep asking this question do not just grow products. They grow their ability to move.