Don’t Automate the Workaround
1. Introduction
The process was slow.
So the team automated it.
Great.
Except...
The process had six unnecessary approvals.
Three duplicate checks.
Two spreadsheets.
And one manual workaround nobody understood.
Now all of them happened automatically.
Faster.
The company hadn't removed the bad process.
It had automated it.
2. Problem
Automation feels like progress.
But automating a poor process doesn't necessarily improve it.
Sometimes it simply makes the waste happen faster.
A workaround created years ago gets turned into a workflow.
An unnecessary approval becomes an automated approval.
A duplicate check becomes an automated check.
Technology makes the process faster.
Not necessarily better.
3. Explanation
Before automating a process, ask:
Why does this step exist?
Does anyone still need it?
What problem was it originally solving?
Could the step disappear completely?
The best automation isn't always:
Human → Machine
Sometimes it is:
Step → Gone
4. Practical Example
A finance team manually copies invoice information into a spreadsheet before entering it into the accounting system.
The company decides to automate the spreadsheet.
Invoices are now extracted automatically and written into it.
Then another automation copies the same information into accounting.
Technically, the project succeeds.
But nobody asks why the spreadsheet still exists.
Two automations now maintain a workaround that could have been removed entirely.
5. AxTrace Perspective
Operationally mature organizations simplify before they automate.
Understand the process.
Trace why each step exists.
Remove unnecessary work.
Then automate what remains.
Automation should eliminate complexity.
Not preserve it in code.
6. Key Takeaway
Don’t automate unnecessary work.
Delete it.
7. FAQ
1. Why can automation make a bad process worse?
Because it can preserve unnecessary steps while allowing them to happen faster and at greater scale.
2. Should every manual process be automated?
No. Some steps should be simplified or removed rather than automated.
3. What should happen before automation?
Understand why each step exists and determine whether it still creates value.