If you've got a process where each stage has as its input a previous stage, improving the whole process depends not on fixing the inputs, but fixing the output

If you've got a process where each stage has as its input a previous stage, improving the whole process depends not on fixing the inputs, but fixing the output of the previous stage. Getting into a habit of local fixes and workarounds may lead to a more resilient process, but it's also a less globally efficient one; fixes accumulate and the knowledge of brokenness stays local. There are direct analogues with software engineering, particularly in maintenance of large or legacy systems - local fixes is how global architecture degrades.