When a company decides to do something new, employees usually try several different ways of carrying out the activity. But once they have found a way that works particularly well, they have strong incentives to lock into the chosen process and stop searching for alternatives.

Fixating on a single process frees people’s time and energy for other tasks. It leads to increased productivity, as employees gain experience performing the process. And it also provides the operational predictability necessary to coordinate the activities of a complex organization.

But established processes often take on a life of their own. They cease to be means to an end and become ends in-and-of themselves. People start following the processes not because they’re effective or efficient, but because they’re well known and comfortable.

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