Most work tools record activity. The operating story is still reconstructed by people.
That reconstruction happens in status meetings, spreadsheet roll-ups, private messages, and presentation decks—usually right when a decision needs to be made quickly and confidently.
A status can look current while the work has already changed.
A plan, a task board, a risk register, a decision note, and the evidence of completion often sit in different places. A person has to rediscover the relationship between them before they can tell whether the result is really on track.
The cost is not only reporting time—it is decision latency and avoidable uncertainty.