Decide Where People Approve

Approve the few things worth approving, and use forbidden states for everything else.

See the situation

Start with the situation below. Next, we will work through an example together before you try the activity.

Samir · Workflow operator

The case

An approval queue, three months in

Approval can authorize an action or separate duties. It does not automatically override a forbidden state.

Items approved: Effectively all of them
Median time on an item: Under two seconds
What the approver checks: The same fields the system checked
Information the approver holds that the system does not: None
What it is now: A delay, with a story about oversight attached

Your task

Choose where each case needs human approval, using the reason shown in the case.

Need a little guidance?

You’re done when: Approvals exist for a stated reason instead of being scattered everywhere.

Human-in-the-loop is useful when it adds authority or judgment, not ceremony.

Need a reminder? Reopen the worked example

Watch one example first

A named approver can authorize an action, but policy separately prohibits it during an active renewal window. Approval does not override that forbidden state.

Why this follows from the evidence

Approval answers who authorized; preconditions answer whether this record may receive the action now. Keep both visible.

GTM Lab

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Workflow Control Plan · 0 of 8 sections started

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Case evidence

An approval queue, three months in

Items approved: Effectively all of them
Median time on an item: Under two seconds
What the approver checks: The same fields the system checked
Information the approver holds that the system does not: None
What it is now: A delay, with a story about oversight attached

The queue above has a person in it and no control in it. Apply the test that tells them apart, then build the mechanism that does the work approvals cannot.

Separate human authority from a forbidden state

Choose what should happen in each case. One approval can add context; it cannot erase a control that applies regardless.

A paid enrichment reveal

Whether this field is thin across the segment or thin on this record alone, which decides whether the spend is worth making at all.

Approve the actionRequest a changeKeep it held

Cadence enrollment during an active renewal

The account is inside an active renewal window. The approver is authorized, but the forbidden state still applies.

Approve the actionRequest a changeKeep it held

Restoring this practice draft…

Optional: compare the original decision choices

The case tool above is the activity that records completion. These choices are an optional review of alternative reasoning.

Work the case · 0 of 2 sections drafted

Approve less, forbid more

Compare these alternatives one section at a time. Check a choice to see its consequence; the draft summary below keeps the proposed changes together.

Step 1 of 2

What makes an approval step a real control rather than a delay?

The approver is senior enough to be accountable for the consequence.The approver has a written policy telling them what to check.The approver holds information the system does not.

This is a proposed draft until the chapter check runs. Selecting a choice alone does not complete the chapter.

3b · Proposed

Safety control plan draft

Safety control plan draft · current draftCompare the original state with the proposed change. This preview does not change live records.

Safety control plan draft · current draft
Item	Before	Proposed	Why
What makes an approval step a real control rather than a delay?	No saved change in this exercise draft	Not drafted yet	Choose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.
Build the forbidden-state list. Which of these belong on it?	No saved change in this exercise draft	Not drafted yet	Choose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.

What makes an approval step a real control rather than a delay?: BeforeNo saved change in this exercise draft; ProposedNot drafted yet; WhyChoose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.
Build the forbidden-state list. Which of these belong on it?: BeforeNo saved change in this exercise draft; ProposedNot drafted yet; WhyChoose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.

A choice appears here as a proposal, not as evidence that a live system changed.

Your place saves as you go.

Chapter 4 of 80 complete