Kinda like the frog in the pot thingy?
Or maybe the Two steps forward; one back" mantra?
Among my many talents, I write code. I occasionally write something that works perfectly the first time, but the vast majority of the time I have to evolve the code into doing what I want.
I can also see by many examples in history, that laws work similarly. Too often are they made with good intentions, but without thinking them through completely. Often there comes adverse consequences not contemplated by their framers.
So yeah, sometimes you have to do "two steps forward and one step back." You hope you don't, but you often do.