Most production problems don’t start in production

A lot of "production problems" aren't really production problems. They just show up there. Unclear specs that were never fully defined. Assumptions no one questioned early on. Small decisions made quietly along the way. Everything feels fine at the start. Things are moving, samples look okay, timelines seem on track. Then once production begins, those same things turn into real issues. At that point, it's not really a fix anymore. It's rework.

I am starting to see production less as the place where problems happen, and more as the place where earlier decisions finally become visible.