GoKawiilWhy Companies Keep Outdated Manual Workarounds Long After Fixing the Real Problem
An Entrepreneur analysis describes how a manufacturing launch team once built a manual tracker and weekly reconciliation process to patch unreliable information flow between departments. Even after the underlying system improved and the original problem was solved, staff kept maintaining both the new process and the old workaround because removing it felt riskier than continuing it.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The piece highlights a common organizational trap: inefficiencies that are spread thinly across many people rarely trigger action, while the visible risk of eliminating a safety net does. This dynamic quietly drains productivity across teams long after its original justification disappears, and recognizing it is key to cutting operational waste.
- Workarounds often outlive the problems they were built to fix.
- Distributed, small costs are tolerated more easily than concentrated, visible risks.
- Removing outdated processes requires deliberate reassessment, not just waiting for teams to abandon them.
Source: entrepreneur.com — Bayo Akinola-Odusola, 2026-09-16
Published there as: “Why Getting Rid of an Inefficient Process Can Feel Riskier Than Keeping It”
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