Just This Once

“Can we bypass the approval?”

“Why?”

“Customer needs it urgently.”

“Okay. Just this once.”

Tuesday.

“Can we bypass it again?”

“Different customer.”

Wednesday.

Same question.

Friday.

Someone finally asked:

“Do we actually have an approval process?”

The Problem

“Just this once” is one of the most expensive phrases in operations.

Not because exceptions should never happen.

Because temporary shortcuts have a strange habit of becoming permanent.

The Explanation

Teams optimise for today's problem.

They rarely have time to ask what today's workaround does to tomorrow's process.

A shortcut succeeds.

So it gets repeated.

Then copied.

Eventually nobody remembers why the original rule existed.

Temporary behaviour becomes unofficial policy.

Practical Example

A finance team requires purchase requests above a threshold to receive approval.

An urgent purchase appears.

The approval is bypassed.

Nothing bad happens.

So next time, the team does it again.

Months later, urgent purchases routinely bypass the workflow.

Cause → a temporary exception worked.

Consequence → repetition turned it into an unofficial rule.

Lesson → successful workarounds still need review.

AxTrace Perspective

An exception should leave evidence.

Not because every decision needs bureaucracy.

Because organisations need memory.

Why was the rule bypassed?

Who approved the exception?

Was the outcome acceptable?

Did the same situation happen again?

Traceability turns “just this once” into something the organisation can learn from.

Key Takeaway

The most dangerous workaround is the one that works well enough to become permanent.

FAQ

1. Why are temporary workarounds risky?

They can become routine without anyone formally reviewing whether the original process should change.

2. Should urgent situations allow exceptions?

Yes, when appropriate. The important part is recording and reviewing the exception rather than making it invisible.

3. When should a workaround become a formal process?

When the same situation occurs frequently enough that it is predictable rather than exceptional.

4. How can traceability help?

It shows how often rules are bypassed, why it happens and whether the workaround produces better outcomes.