Scope creep

The gradual, usually unintentional process by which a certified professional's answers drift past the scope of practice boundary, typically advancing through a natural feeling follow up question, a long standing relationship that makes formal disclosure feel unnecessary, and a high stakes moment that pressures the professional to help more directly than their training allows. Countered by a standing habit of applying the scope test whenever hesitation appears, not by vigilance alone.

The progressive addition of features, behaviors, or capabilities during the build that were not part of the original mission statement. The primary cause of incomplete capstones. Mitigated by maintaining a future work section and never moving items from it to active work without rewriting the mission statement.

The gradual, unbudgeted expansion of what an advisor is expected to deliver, one small unpriced request at a time, until the fixed fee no longer covers the work. Prevented by explicit exclusions and a change process, not by refusing help.

The gradual, undocumented expansion of a system to jobs it was never scoped or tested for, usually justified by "since it is already there, let's also use it for..." A written out-of-scope list exists to stop it.

The error in which a correctly counted or estimated figure is silently restated with a broader meaning than its original method supports, such as a complaint count filed with one agency being restated as the number of people affected by the underlying problem. The number stays the same; the claim around it quietly expands.