Saturday, February 1, 2020

Not a process person


Every project has them:
Some people are just not "process persons". They never do the same thing twice the same way
But more importantly: It would never occur to them to do the same thing twice the same way.
And, given a problem, they don't seek process; and really don't see why improvisation is not just as effective.
And, you couldn't label them "lean" either."Lean" requires process and tooling to minimize redundancy and non-value repetitions.

Nimble and opportunistic
If not process oriented, nonetheless these folks can be very opportunistic, grabbing onto a situation and solving it their way. Nimble, to be sure.

And, what's wrong with nimble and opportunistic?
Perhaps nothing the first time through.

Qualities you might value
But reducing whatever you are doing to its most effective process adds reliability, predictability, and portability---the ability to make the process work with others and other situations.
And, I might add: fairness---all is treated the same way, insofar as any process can be bias free

Frustrations
Did I mention that it's really hard to put together a team of non-process people? In the first place, teamwork brings a certain process orientation with it. And, in the second place, values don't align well.
"Getting it done" collides with reliability, predictability, portability, and fairness
Beware collisions!

The worst thing
The worst thing is when the team leader is not a process person; their disdain or disregard or insensitivity to process undercuts all else, leaving the "process people" with uncertain support or value-add. Bummer! 




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