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Failed Case

We automated a process that should not have existed

Published August 8, 2026 by Emma Brooks

Illustrative story. This fictional example was created to demonstrate the YourHero experience.

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Industry
Fintech
Role
Operations
Company
Confidential

Intro

Our internal approval workflow contained eleven steps and regularly delayed customer requests.

Problem

We assumed automation was the obvious solution because employees were spending so much time moving information between systems and waiting for approvals.

What I Tried

We automated routing, notifications, and several approval actions. The workflow became faster, but it remained unnecessarily complicated.

Lesson

Only after implementation did we challenge the process itself. Five of the eleven steps could be removed entirely. Simplify first. Automate second.

We automated a process that should not have existed — YourHero