[wolverine876]

> Severity is desirable iff it's justified.

It's necessary if it's (necessary & efficient & justified); it's never desirable IMHO.

Doing severe things because they are justified is just acting out on a desire or drive - internal anger - but now we can 'justify' the target and feel ok about it. Lynch mobs think they are justified.

[sokoloff]

Designing severe things to be included as part of a process is a desirable property of that system if the severe thing is sometimes required.

No one is designing a formal system that includes lunch mobs. But a formal system of repercussions for employee behavior that does not include firing is an incomplete system.

It’s not that firing itself is ever desirable, but rather that its inclusion in a disciplinary progression is desirable.