I grew up in the Midwestern United States. It has a climate that is best described as extreme. The winters can be well below zero and the summers as hot as the coast. Tornados and freezing can be real risks.
In my career, I’ve worked in industry where reliability is critical for success. Transforming the unexpected into a plan was normal business.
Two years ago, the Texas power grid failed due to lack of robustness in cold weather. This led to around 200 deaths. It is a serious issue.
So it may not be a surprise that I believe robustness is important. You can take lean and minimal too far.