# scope creep (drift)

*Ordinarily means:* When a project slowly expands beyond its original goals without anyone noticing.

A parameter that moves without maintenance because no one is watching the wall it will hit.

- Computed level: L19 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: project_management  ·  Arena: organizational_change

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [drift](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-drift.aimless), [wall](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-wall.range-end), [maintenance](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-maintenance.upkeep), [parameter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-parameter.condition)

**Through:** A change in a thing's condition that was not acted on, allowing it to move toward a boundary.

**Novel properties:**
- unnoticed progression toward a breaking point

## Examples
- The 2003 Columbia shuttle disaster followed foam insulation strikes on five prior missions that were normalized despite rising damage. *(engineering)*
- Windows Vista shipped after two years of feature additions that delayed release and expanded hardware requirements beyond initial plans. *(computing)*
- The U.S. federal budget for defense grew from $300B in 2000 to over $700B in 2020, absorbing missions beyond original Cold War scope. *(institutions)*

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*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-scope-creep.drift*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-scope-creep.drift.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*