The Normalisation of Deviance: How pushing your luck becomes the new normal

There was a useful thread on Twitter about the normalisation of deviance, the idea that if you get away with something outside the accepted norm and gain advantage by doing so then it becomes the new norm. In this case decisions made to cut corners or push technology beyond its specified limits eventually led to disaster but this needn't always be the case: it could be that similar decisions in a difference context might have lead to more streamlined processes or an easier life. How can we predict the outcome beforehand? Very often we can't, but we can — and must — manage the associated risks.

Perfection paralysis is always a potential barrier to change. "Good enough" is usually good enough but realistically there will be times when we have to cut a corner or two to get to "Good enough for now" within the available time and resources. It's as well to know the difference.

• "Good enough" — Job done to the specified requirements. Leave well alone and don't break anything unless the changes are part of a managed transition process.

• "Good enough for now" — Job done near enough to the specified requirements but the job needs to be reviewed to make sure it really is good enough and that the cut corners don't have any nasty unintended consequences. Then do a lessons learned to find out if there are any unanticipated benefits, remembering to look at both the processes and the outcomes.

"Good enough for now" is your deviation from the norm. Even if everything turns out to be hunky dory you'll want to amber list this in your risk register to flag up that the next change process needs to factor in the impacts you've identified during the lessons learned.