The common terms are correct. So is the scope. Approval is recorded. The signed PDF sits in the right folder.
Work still starts from the wrong version.
That looks like a document problem. It is often a workflow problem.
Documents do different jobs
Common terms hold recurring rules. A specific scope describes a specific piece of work. A later change records a new decision.
One document does not silently replace the others.
The legal meaning of those documents and the form they require belong with qualified legal professionals. The operational question is different. Which document answers which question, and which state controls the next action?
Status is part of the record
Drafted, reviewed, approved, sent, signed, filed, and handed to operations are separate states.
A file can be accurate and still be wrong for the moment. It may have been approved but never sent. It may have been signed while the operating team still uses an earlier draft.
Every transition therefore needs an owner, visible evidence, and a defined next state.
The sent version stays sent
A later edit must not rewrite history.
When something changes after sending, the new version needs a clear link to the previous one. The current master shows what should apply now. The record shows what was actually approved, sent, or signed.
Both matter.
Approval is not sending. Signature is not operational handover. A successful test is not live use.
A missing step also needs a rule
What happens when approval is absent, a version is unclear, or a required action never occurs?
A reliable workflow does not continue quietly. It stops, assigns the open question, or follows a defined exception path.
AI can prepare. It cannot approve itself.
AI can compare versions, complete metadata, flag missing information, and prepare a review.
It cannot invent approval or replace legal judgment. The accountable person still makes the decision.
A correct document answers one question. A reliable workflow keeps the answers together.
Patrick Thole, Disruption Dynamics, Zürich
disruption-dynamics.ch