"An organization’s culture is shaped by what it repeatedly chooses to ignore.
When the stakes rise, standards are what keep judgment from turning into vibes and hierarchy. In a debate about what “done” means in practice, the goal is not rigidity; it is clarity about the bar.
In a debate about what “done” means in practice, a quiet “just this once” becomes precedent. The damage is not one exception; it is the loss of clarity about the bar and who can change it. If the exception path is informal, it becomes politics; write the signal that makes an exception legitimate and who can approve it.
Edgar H. Schein is useful here because it forces precision. State the standard plainly, then make the exception path narrow enough to matter. Write it so execution is obvious.