Scope drift is the uncontrolled growth of a project’s requirements beyond its original plan. Small additions may be reasonable, but expansion becomes dangerous when it delays completion by weeks or months or changes the intended outcome. section 9.3
Too many cooks
A project has several stakeholders with competing preferences: one approves the design, another demands a different font, and a delayed decision-maker later rejects a specialized filter menu. The team repeatedly revises completed work, consuming time and money while the finish line moves away. section 9.3.2
Scope drift commonly appears when:
- Requirements keep arriving instead of staying aligned with the original plan. section 9.3
- Too many stakeholders give competing instructions or cannot provide timely sign-off. section 9.3.2
- No one clearly calls the shots, leaving iterative design and development without timely guidance. section 9.3.2
