It's really nice to have a term to pin to a vague concept that had been floating around in my head for at least a decade. I've come across instances of this repeatedly but never knew quite how to describe it properly to others. It's a treacherous slope where the first step is usually completely un-noticed and by the time people do notice it is way too late. We've always done it like this is the oft heard excuse but on closer examination that usually isn't true. Typically at some point in the past there was a much tighter regime and the present day situation would have definitely not passed muster. But by inching towards it with very small steps critical thresholds can be exceeded without notice.

Thanks for posting this. It will help me professionally to formulate my opinions on such situations more clearly and will serve as a reference point for future discussion.