"Standards exist to protect judgment, not replace it.
Standards protect teams from the most common lie: “just this once.” In a debate about what “done” means in practice, the purpose is not to be strict; it is to stay consistent under stress.
In a debate about what “done” means in practice, people comply with what is enforced, not what is written. If exceptions are informal, you end up with a standard no one can defend and a process no one trusts. Name what you are refusing to optimize, so future changes do not quietly destroy the property you thought you were protecting.
Atul Gawande is useful here because it forces precision. Write the bar as a yes/no check, then name the exception trigger and decision owner. Keep it short enough to remember under stress.