Looking for a word or phrase for realizing a failure only after a long time


There is a kind of situation that seems to occur somewhat commonly, that goes something like:




  1. Figure out some way to handle a particular situation




  2. do it regularly, and make a habit of it, as it seems to work OK …




  3. … and only much later actually realize that it very much isn’t OK, that it’s been doing harm all the time, and that it’s too late to fix anything.




Does there exist any good words or phrases for this kind of situation?




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