"Organizations normalize signals that contradict their success narrative.
Drift is a chain of permission slips. In a metric proposal that will change incentives, each one is small, defensible, and easy to repeat.
In a metric proposal that will change incentives, the rational story will be that you were being pragmatic. The bill arrives later as fragility and rework, and the team learns that “temporary” means permanent. You see it in a decision that drifts because nobody writes the boundary. A clean stop line prevents optimism from keeping a failing bet alive long after the evidence turns.
Diane Vaughan is a reminder to audit the argument, not the intention. Put the assumption into words, then choose the signal that forces you to revisit it. Save it where decisions live.