![\"processes\"](\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/processes.png?w=200\")
<\/a>process.\u201d The marketplace is too dynamic, or unpredictable, their refrain goes \u2013 being shackled to rules<\/em> would only limit the ability to get real work<\/em> done.<\/p>\nI have coached project managers with multi-million dollar portfolios who bristle at the very idea of following a project management process. (And don\u2019t get the Agilistas started on the human bondage that is \u201cprocess documentation\u201d.) \u201cMy project is so unique,\u201d they say, \u201cit could never fit within your arbitrary constraints.\u201d<\/p>\n
This perception, while widespread, is false.<\/p>\n
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of what \u201cprocess\u201d actually is \u2013 versus, say, \u201coperating procedures.\u201d SOPs, or standard work, are (intentionally) limiting \u2013 and when the real-world situation at hand does not quite fit a pre-ordained list of tasks, the instructions can become frustrating. Thus, ultimately, ignored.<\/p>\n
But well-desig It may sound paradoxical, but it is that very framework \u2013 the built-in limitations \u2013 that create the freedom.<\/p>\n For example: At its core, western music has a very strict framework. Twelve tones. Five lines on a staff. But from that basic structure, there are 30 keys, 105 modes, and countless variations.<\/p>\n No one is likely to argue that Jimi Hendrix, say, or Mozart, were arbitrarily restricted from achieving their individual creative genius. However, they were indeed both confined \u2013limited by the same 12 notes \u2013 as are Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, and Vivaldi.<\/p>\n If Jimmy Buffet had to sit down every morning and create, from scratch, new keys and new scales, he would never have had time to write \u201cMargaritaville.\u201d<\/p>\n Listen to Coltrane and Miles Davis play together\u2013 the trumpet and sax can both go Good processes have standardized documentation. If Beethoven had to custom-design a way to write down his work \u2013 rather than relying on that pre-existing system of five lines and four bars \u2013 we would be lucky to have one symphony. If there was no accepted standard of documentation, orchestras and conductors would be paralyzed by the need to learn how each composer scores his or her music. Having a common, accepted process allows them to focus their talents on what is most important \u2013 the content.<\/p>\n![\"beethoven\"](\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/beethoven.jpg\")
ned business processes should not be that narrow.<\/strong> “Well-designed” means goal <\/em>(rather than activity<\/em>) oriented, and should allow for freedom within a framework to meet that need.<\/p>\n![\"songs_you_know_by_heart-lg\"](\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/songs_you_know_by_heart-lg.jpg?w=150\")
veering wildly in opposite directions, but at the snap of a snare, it all comes back together. Because they trust their process, and exercise individual freedom in a common framework.<\/p>\n
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<\/a> friend, and they both \u2013 along with the hundreds of screenplays that are filmed every year \u2013 adhere to the same framework: 12 point Courier, 1.5 inch inside margin, dialogue indented 2.5 inches, and so on.<\/p>\n![\"music\"](\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/music.jpg?w=300\")
them the end.<\/p>\n