In 30 seconds

The written procedure is evidence about how work is supposed to happen. The real work usually differs, for reasons that made sense to the people doing it.

Treat the document as a starting clue, then verify it against real cases.

Why the two drift apart

A process document is written once and then reality moves on. New exceptions appear. A system changes. A shortcut turns out to be faster. A rule is quietly ignored because it never fit.

None of this is carelessness. Workflows evolve to handle the situations the document did not anticipate. The gap between the two is information, not failure.

What the real process often contains

  • Undocumented decisions and shortcuts.
  • Informal approvals that happen verbally.
  • A "temporary" spreadsheet that has run for years.
  • Duplicate entry between systems.
  • Context that lives in one person's head.
  • Exceptions that are handled but never written down.

Why this matters for AI

If you automate the documented process, you automate the version that does not fully work. The AI will meet the same exceptions the document ignores, and it has no informal owner to quietly resolve them.

Automating the real process, exceptions included, is what makes a workflow survive contact with a normal week.

A small example

A procurement policy says every purchase over a limit needs two approvals. In practice, urgent purchases get one approval and a follow-up email the next day.

If you build a system that blocks single-approval purchases, urgent work stops. The real process had a pressure valve the document never mentioned. You need to design for that valve, not pretend it does not exist.

What this does not solve

Recognizing the gap does not tell you which version should win going forward. Sometimes the real process is better and should be formalized. Sometimes the official rule exists for a good reason and the shortcut is a risk. That is a judgment to make with the people involved.

Good enough to move on when

  • You have compared the documented process with a real case.
  • You know the main places they differ.
  • You understand why each difference exists before changing it.