terminology - Term or phrase describing action occuring when not watching


I am an IT professional. More specifically in automation. I am looking for a term or phrase that describes the event when either:


a. you are watching something closely and the issue doesn't occur


or


b. you are not watching something at all and the issue does occur



Answer




A watched pot never boils
Something you are waiting for will not happen while you are concentrating on it.




For a single-word adjective, consider stealth. Particularly during the last government, we Brits got used to usages like stealth taxes, where the general idea is you never actually see the money going.


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