Universal Principles of Design, Updated and Expanded Third Edition

145 Process Eats Goal

A situation in which people follow a process that undermines the greater goal.

“Process eats goal” describes a situation in which people dutifully follow an authorized way of doing things at the expense of the greater goal. For example, a retirement community nurse calls 911 after a resident collapses and has trouble breathing. The dispatcher advises the nurse to administer CPR as firefighters rush to the scene, but the nurse refuses because it is against policy. The dispatcher pleads with the nurse to have somebody there assist, but everyone refuses. The resident dies. Process eats goal.1

The three common causes of process eating goal are:

1. Inflexible, rule-based cultures — Organizational cultures that prioritize rule ...