I've actually never seen the phenomenon through this lens, but I like it! I think the clearest indicator that this is going on is when you can circumvent the p

I've actually never seen the phenomenon through this lens, but I like it! I think the clearest indicator that this is going on is when you can circumvent the process arbitrarily. Two example memories spring to mind: In a visa office: "fill out form X, you can get one from the table over there" / "There are none left" / "OK never mind give me your passport and I'll stamp it". At my Big Tech employer: "please fill out this document template detailing the update and version history of your service, for an audit" / "really? This looks time consuming and I don't really understand the the reason why you need it" / "OK, never mind then" (Actually, at Big Tech I have found that replying along the lines of "really though?" is a very good first response when confronted with Processes. Sometimes when reporting bugs the template asks you to e.g. gather traces with browser extensions or whatever. I always say "I will do that if you first confirm that it will actually be useful for this bug" and haven't yet received such a confirmation)