Looks Extreme? Happens All the Time

In the comic, it’s tissue samples in a lab freezer. No paperwork. No approval. Just good science done the wrong way, and now completely unusable. That might sound dramatic. Most of us aren’t navigating ethics boards or writing violation reports.

But what was the logic behind the mistake? That’s very familiar. It’s the same reasoning that shows up in offices, agencies, and project teams every day. Someone moves fast, skips a check, assumes no one will notice, and then they do.

Approval Feels Optional. Until It Isn’t

You’re ahead of schedule. The campaign is ready. The event invite looks fine. And no one said “stop,” so you assume you can go. After all, it’s easier to ask forgiveness than wait for the fifth round of sign-off, right?

Until someone spots the outdated data. Or the unsent NDA. Or the pricing that wasn’t supposed to be public yet. Suddenly, your great work is now a fire to put out. Not because it was bad, but because it wasn’t aligned. And that’s enough to get it pulled.

Most Mistakes Start Small

It’s not just regulatory stuff that gets you in trouble. It’s pushing updates without a second pair of eyes. Publishing before the client approves. Sending deliverables without confirming the scope. These aren’t big creative risks. They’re small operational shortcuts that look harmless in the moment, and expensive in hindsight.

The work might still be great. But now it carries baggage. It gets revised, replaced, or archived quietly; not because of what it said, but because of how it got out.

Defensible > Fast

Processes aren’t there to kill your momentum. It’s there so your work doesn’t disappear the second someone asks, “Who signed off on this?” If no one can vouch for it, it doesn’t matter how good it is, it just becomes a rumor.

So yes, ask for the signature. Track the version. Send the boring follow-up. Because nothing’s worse than doing something great, only for it to get quietly replaced by something worse that followed the rules.