Why Approvals Are A Curriculum, Not A Bottleneck.
Every yes and every no is training data for the operating system that will eventually run without you.
Most People See Friction. I See Education.
Why the common belief that approvals are a temporary inconvenience misses the entire point.
Most people look at approvals and see friction.
I see education.
That's one of the biggest differences between how I think about autonomy and how most of the industry thinks about autonomy.
The common belief is that approvals are a temporary inconvenience.
A hurdle.
A bottleneck.
Something to eliminate as quickly as possible.
I think that's backwards.
Every Approval Contains Information.
What yes, no, and edit actually teach the system about standards and judgment.
Because every approval contains information.
Every rejection contains information.
Every edit contains information.
And information is how trust gets built.
Imagine hiring a new employee.
Would you expect them to know exactly how you think on day one?
Of course not.
You review their work.
You explain your reasoning.
You point out what they missed.
You show them what good looks like.
You correct.
You clarify.
You repeat.
Over time the employee begins making better decisions.
Not because they memorized a process.
Because they learned your standards.
Approvals are no different.
The Industry Chased Outputs. It Missed Learning.
Speed and task completion are the wrong metrics. The right question is whether the system is improving.
Most people see an approval.
I see a lesson.
And that's where I think the entire industry has gone wrong.
Everyone is obsessed with outputs.
Very few people are paying attention to learning.
The obsession is speed.
- How many tasks can be completed?
- How many emails can be sent?
- How many workflows can be automated?
The more interesting question is: Is the system getting better?
Because a system that never improves isn't autonomous.
It's just repetitive.
Judgment Only Comes From Feedback.
Execution without feedback never develops judgment. Approvals provide feedback, not permission.
A lot of what gets marketed as autonomy today is really just execution.
The software follows instructions.
The software completes steps.
The software produces outputs.
But it never develops judgment.
And judgment only comes from feedback.
That's what approvals provide.
Feedback. Not permission. Education.
That's why I've never viewed the approval phase as a necessary evil.
It's the most important phase.
It's where trust is built.
It's where standards become visible.
It's where expectations become explicit.
It's where an organization teaches itself what good looks like.
A Curriculum, Not A Bottleneck.
The four things approvals create, and why the curriculum mindset wins in the long run.
Most people want to skip that stage.
They want autonomy immediately.
What they're really asking for is trust without evidence.
That doesn't work with employees.
It doesn't work with organizations.
And it doesn't work with autonomous systems.
Trust is earned through repetition.
Through observation.
Through consistency.
Through evidence.
Approvals create all four.
Which is why I don't think approvals are a bottleneck. I think they're a curriculum.
A curriculum for the operating system that will eventually run without you.
Every approval teaches.
Every rejection teaches.
Every correction teaches.
The goal isn't to stay in approval mode forever.
The goal is to learn enough that approval eventually becomes unnecessary.
That's a very different mindset.
One treats approvals as overhead.
The other treats approvals as investment.
One is trying to move faster.
The other is trying to build trust.
And in the long run, trust always moves faster.
Autonomy Is Earned, Not Enabled.
The graduation everyone is chasing is not fewer approvals. It is the confidence that trust brings.
Because once trust exists, you stop managing tasks.
You start managing outcomes.
That's the graduation everyone is chasing.
Not fewer approvals.
More confidence.
Not automation.
Trust.
Because autonomy isn't something you enable. It's something you earn.
Questions People Ask About Approvals And Autonomy.
Short answers to the questions this piece tends to raise.
- Why are approvals not a bottleneck?
- A bottleneck slows work without adding value. An approval adds value by teaching standards, reinforcing patterns, and building trust. Every yes, no, and edit is information the system uses to improve.
- What is the difference between an approval and feedback?
- Permission says yes or no. Feedback explains why. The best approvals do both. They don't just authorize action. They teach the system what good looks like, so the next decision is better.
- When should approvals stop being required?
- Approvals should become unnecessary only after enough evidence has accumulated. When repetition, observation, consistency, and evidence all point in the same direction, trust has formed and oversight can become optional.
- How do approvals build autonomous systems?
- Autonomy requires judgment. Judgment only comes from feedback. Every approval, rejection, and correction is a lesson that shapes the system's understanding of standards. Over time, that curriculum produces a system that can operate without you.