Construction
Every job starts from zero because nothing was ever documented
A construction company finishes one job and starts a similar one, same type of foundation, same type of structure, practically the same suppliers. Even so, the team repeats the same budget mistakes, the same schedule delays, the same rework that already happened on the previous job.
This happens because what each project taught the team lives only in the memory of whoever was there. There's no record of what each stage actually cost, which suppliers delivered on time and which didn't, what worked and what didn't. Every new project starts from zero, even when it repeats something the company has already done dozens of times.
Standardizing doesn't mean rigidly locking down every job, it means keeping a simple record of what each project taught, so the next team doesn't have to rediscover the same problem. Over time, that becomes a real advantage: more accurate budgets, more realistic timelines, and fewer surprises along the way.