Template description
The machine starts at Checklist, then QAComplete, then SecuritySignoff, then ReleaseGo, and only then reaches the end. Checklist can also move to Blocked, and Blocked returns to Checklist. You cannot reach ReleaseGo without passing QA and security, because no arrow skips those states. Blocked is attached only to Checklist. QAComplete does not have its own arrow to Blocked, and SecuritySignoff does not either. Leaving Blocked puts you back at the start of the chain, so the next move is still into QA, then security, then release. A block is a return, not a side door to the end state.
When to use it
Use it when a release candidate is described as blocked in QA but the drawing only allows Blocked from the checklist. It is the picture for a go or no-go where someone hopes to reach ReleaseGo without a security state. That hop is not on the diagram.
How to adapt it
Add a blocked arrow from QAComplete or SecuritySignoff if those reviews can fail on their own. Insert another signoff, such as legal or support, only between the states where that team actually sits. If leaving Blocked should resume mid-chain, point the return at that state and name what was already accepted. Rename the states to the words in your release ticket. Do not draw an arrow from Checklist to ReleaseGo.