Written procedures and on-the-ground actions are two sides of the same coin in any field, but they are not the same thing. Written records is what you write down—the structured processes and operational blueprints that are meant to capture how things should be done. It is the structured roadmap, canonical guide, documented standard.

Frontline actions, on the other hand, is what actually happens on the ground—the what people do when no one’s watching, the tricks they’ve learned, the bends they make, and аудит поставщика the fixes they invent.

Often, documentation is created with the best intentions. It is meant to ensure uniformity, adherence, and performance. But when documentation is written in isolation from those doing the work, it can become disconnected from reality. It may sound perfect on paper, but in practice, it might be burdensome, inflexible, or blind to real-world limitations.

Workers then begin to circumvent, adjust, or bypass formal steps. The documentation hasn’t changed, but the practice has.

The divergence between policy and practice isn’t inherently wrong. Sometimes it reflects creative adaptation—teams refining workflows because the manual is flawed. Other times, it signals a lack of clarity, coaching, or resources. When practice diverges from documentation without understanding or approval, it can lead to unintended consequences, increased liability, or process breakdowns.

The priority must be aligning written rules with actual execution. Useful manuals are living resources. It evolves as practice evolves. The high-performing units regularly compare the policy with the daily workflow. They ask questions like, Why is this step being skipped? Why does this procedure take twice as long as described? What are people seeing on the ground that we haven’t accounted for?.

Hearing those who do the work isn’t undermining leadership—it’s strengthening it. When people feel their real experiences are heard and valued they are more likely to adhere to guidelines because they helped create them. Documentation becomes a evolving framework, not a frozen policy.

Written rules without real execution are hollow and daily routines without codification are unpredictable. The strongest organizations find a balance. They record actual workflows, not theoretical ones. They revise manuals in real time. And they understand that sustainable improvement is born from collaboration, not top-down mandates.