The Principle
Any recurring operational bottleneck is a failure of system design, not human effort. If a task requires the same manual input more than three times, it must be automated or eliminated.
The Application
In practice, this means we stop blaming individuals for slow turnarounds and start auditing the tools they are forced to use. True efficiency is not working faster; it is removing the steps that shouldn’t exist in the first place.
The Boundary
Where this rule breaks down is in human relationship management. You cannot automate empathy, and attempting to remove friction from client communication often removes the trust along with it. Use automation for data, use human effort for connection.