Military historians and experts coined the term mission creep to describe military operations that started with one purpose, but drifted to another—think Korean War. The war started to protect southern Korea from invasion from the north; however, the mission crept from protecting the south to re-uniting the Korean peninsula. Of course, the existence of North and South Korea remind us that the mission crept to failure.

Today, mission creep describes any organization or policy that gradually creeps in a new direction—often fueled by a perceived opportunity or crisis.