Mission Creep
A mission quietly expanding past its original objective, one reasonable-seeming step at a time, until the goals no longer resemble the mandate.
Full definition of Mission Creep →:: COMPARE ::
Mission creepvsScope creep
The short answer
Scope creep adds deliverables to a fixed goal. Mission creep changes the goal itself. Mission creep is the more dangerous of the two, because a team can be executing perfectly against an objective nobody chose.
Side by side
| Aspect | Mission creep | Scope creep |
|---|---|---|
| What grows | The purpose | The work |
| Detectable by | Comparing to the mandate | Comparing to the plan |
| Fix | Restate the goal | Change-control |
| Origin | Military, 1993 | Project management |
What each one means
Scope Creep
Uncontrolled growth of a project's scope after work has started, usually because the scope was never properly defined in the first place.
Full definition of Scope Creep →