feilframskritt

Feilframskritt is a term used in Norwegian discussions of process quality and organizational change to describe a trajectory where small errors introduced during progress accumulate into larger deviations from an intended outcome. The word combines feil (error) and framskritt (progress or advancement) and is used primarily descriptively to characterize how incremental faults can steer a project away from its goals.

In practice, feilframskritt is observed in iterative work such as software development, manufacturing, or policy implementation, where incomplete corrections allow faults to compound across cycles.

Mechanisms include inadequate testing, rushed changes, feedback that reinforces incorrect fixes, increased system complexity, and time pressure that discourages thorough analysis.

Examples include a minor bug fix that introduces a new regression, or a sequence of small scope changes that misalign requirements and design, producing outsized consequences later.

The concept is related to error propagation, systems thinking, drift, and the normalization of deviance, which describe how small faults can become accepted as normal.

Critics note that "feilframskritt" can be vague and overlapping with ordinary project risk; it is most useful as a descriptive lens rather than a prescriptive method.