A contrarian view of “A contrarian view of process”

A comment on this week’s Keep the Joint Running, “A contrarian view of process,” which suggests that too much emphasis has been placed on process, at the expense of more important matters, such as establishing what Jim Collins calls a “culture of discipline”:

Dear Bob …

Discipline and process are two sides of the same coin. Discipline and process are both structured, well thought out approaches to solving problems.

The biggest difference is that discipline is more individualistic or team based. Process attempts to extend that discipline into the broader organization. And so the shift is to move from disciplined people or teams, to process based organizations. It is a logical next step in the evolution of a dynamic organization. It isn’t one or the other. Or that one is better than the other.

By the way, I would think that amazon.com is a clear example where process is a key driver behind the success of the organization.

– Process driven

Dear Driven …

There is a difference between discipline and having a culture of discipline. No question, in many circumstances “disciplined execution” means reliable execution of well-defined processes. That isn’t the only expression of a culture of discipline, though.

For example, another hallmark is that business decision-makers rely on evidence and logic in their decision-making, preferring these to their personal biases and “gut feelings.”

In spite of many attempts to make it so, decision-making isn’t a process in any meaningful sense – it is a “practice.” The difference is that when you follow the steps of a process, good results happen. When you follow the steps of a practice that’s just the starting point.

Think of bowling as a process and hitting a pitched baseball as a practice. To be good at either you have to be disciplined about your approach to the sport.

But in bowling, it’s pretty much true that if you can release the ball exactly the same way every time, you can get a strike every time. Variation in the output is due entirely to variation in the input.

When it comes to hitting a pitched ball, if you swing the bat exactly the same way every time any decent pitcher will easily strike you out. Practices require judgment, insight, inspired guesswork, sometimes the ability to anticipate an opponent … following the steps gets you in the game, but that’s about it.

So far as Amazon.com is concerned, process is certainly important. Its customer-facing technology is far more important. The fact that Jeff Bezos thinks like a merchant, and constantly focuses on business strategies and tactics that will attract more customers and get him a greater share of their wallets, has nothing at all to do with process.

My opinion, at least.

– Bob

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