Workflows Don’t Break in One Place. They Break Everywhere.
Most companies think of broken processes as isolated.
A missed approval here. A late invoice there. A delay in procurement.
But the truth is this: one weak step triggers a chain reaction.
A broken handoff in Sales stalls Finance. Finance delays Ops. Ops misses delivery.
And what started as one small miss spreads across the business like falling dominoes.
Why the Domino Effect Happens
-
Dependencies Are Invisible
Teams don’t realize how much their work relies on upstream steps until it’s too late. -
Manual Patches Hide the Real Issue
Instead of fixing the root cause, teams work around it, passing the problem down the line. -
Data Doesn’t Flow, People Do
When systems don’t integrate, people carry the information. And people drop it. -
No Early Warning Signals
By the time leaders notice the issue, the damage has already multiplied.
The Real Cost of a Broken Step
- Delays compound → a one-day pause in approvals creates a two-week delay in delivery.
- Errors multiply → one typo in data entry ripples through reporting, forecasting, and invoicing.
- Trust erodes → teams stop believing the system works, and start building shadow processes.
- Margins shrink → the cost of fixing problems downstream is always higher than fixing them upstream.
What looks like a “small” issue is rarely small, it’s just the first domino.
How to Stop the Domino Effect
At Yellow Basket, we design workflows that don’t collapse at the first weak link.
Here’s how:
- Map the Entire Chain → Document real dependencies, not just the theoretical process.
- Automate Handoffs → Remove manual steps so data moves consistently.
- Add Smart Alerts → Flag deviations before they trigger bigger failures.
- Build Resilience In → Design processes that can absorb small shocks without falling apart.
What It Looks Like When It Works
- Sales closes a deal → Finance auto-generates invoices → Ops receives instant notification.
- Procurement misses a step → system flags it immediately, not three weeks later.
- One error doesn’t spread. It gets contained, corrected, and logged.
Work keeps moving, even when reality doesn’t go to plan.
Final Thought
Your business doesn’t slow down because everything is broken.
It slows down because one broken step triggers ten more.
Fix the first domino, and the rest stay standing.
📩 At Yellow Basket, we build workflows that don’t fall apart at the first mistake.