Small steps
The article points out the very truth of all systems, IT and non-IT. Innovative at small scale is a maintenance problem if done wrong. Innovative at large scale is a maintenance problem if done wrong. Often, only when the innovation becomes general mainstream, then you have established procedures that keep things running and cost down.
The real kicker of problematic is people at a company dictating a specific system and or sub-system. How often I've seen the management level interfering with development and innovation by forcing the use of marginally correct or incompatible pieces. That is the nightmare of maintenance doubled down (and the techies get the blamed for all the problems).
The lesson all should learn is small steps are extremely important in making big systems. Planning not only the functionality of a system but the longevity and maintenance are all integral to the system and take time to make/build and describe/document. And lets not forget planing to handle failures and problems while running.