Suuruheikkö

Suuruheikkö is a Finnish neologism used in discussions of systems, organizations, and critical infrastructure to denote a vulnerability that becomes evident only when a system operates at large scale. It emphasizes that robustness observed at small size may not extrapolate to the extensive scope of real-world operation, where interactions and dependencies increase nonlinearly.

Etymology: The term is formed from suur- (great, large) and -heikkö (weakness, vulnerability). It literally means "weakness at scale" and is typically used in analytic or reflective writing rather than as a formal technical category.

Applications: In software architecture, suuruheikkö can describe how a small, isolated bug or design flaw can cause widespread failure when a service is scaled to many instances. In supply chains, a minor delay from a single supplier can cascade into disruptions across multiple routes. In urban planning, peak-load conditions can reveal bottlenecks in electricity grids or transport networks that are not apparent during normal conditions.

Reception and relation: The term is largely informal and used mainly in essays on complexity, resilience, and risk management. It overlaps with established ideas such as systemic risk, scale effects, and emergent properties, but is not a standardized label in formal disciplines.