It’s no wonder people are scared of process. When we have a large project or goal, we assume that the process to complete that work must be equally large. That is daunting. We’d rather just do it.

When we have taken the time to build a process for a large project, we’ve all witnessed what a large process gives us: bureaucracy. Sluggish systems of overactive checks, but rarely any active balances.

We end up with a heavy process that seeks to manage the flow of funds over quality, the tracking of individual actions over results, and a focus on formal, standardized repetition over healthy reaction and problem solving.

This is because we fundamentally don’t understand what process is or what it is for. Therefore, we punt.

We turn our processes over to other people (e.g., consultants, managers) or project management offices. We try to buy boxes of what we believe is process, but just end up being a confusing toolbox — like getting an Indiana Jones Lego kit when we need to build the Parthenon, or getting all the pieces of the Parthenon when we want to build a shed.

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