Automation on Bad Process = Faster Disaster

The Automation Trap

There's a dangerous assumption in business today: automation equals improvement.

Leaders see manual processes and immediately think, "We need to automate this." They buy software, implement RPA, deploy AI—and wonder why things got worse, not better.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: if your process is broken, automation just breaks it faster.

The Math of Bad Automation

Let's say your order processing has a 15% error rate due to poor process design. You're processing 100 orders a day, so you're fixing 15 errors daily.

Now you automate. You can process 1,000 orders a day. Congratulations—you now have 150 errors to fix. You've 10x'd your problem.

Signs You're Automating Chaos

Watch for these red flags:

• Workarounds are "normal": If your team has unofficial processes to work around official ones, automation will just add another layer of complexity
• No one can explain the process: If it takes 30 minutes to explain how something works, it's not ready for automation
• Exceptions are the rule: If more than 20% of transactions need manual intervention, you have a process problem, not an automation opportunity

The Right Approach

Before any automation initiative, ask these questions:

1. Is this process designed, or did it just evolve? Evolved processes are usually chaos in disguise

2. What's the current error/exception rate? If it's above 5%, fix the process first

3. Can we measure success? If you can't define what "good" looks like, you can't know if automation helped

Design First, Digitize Second

The companies that get the most value from automation follow a simple rule: design before digitize.

This means:

• Map the current process honestly (including all the workarounds)
• Identify why exceptions happen
• Redesign for the 80% case
• Only then consider automation

The Bottom Line

Automation is a multiplier. It multiplies whatever you feed it—efficiency or chaos. Make sure you're feeding it the right thing.

Need help redesigning before you digitize? Let's talk about process transformation.