OK, so what is it about processes that people don't like? Is it the fact that some invisible person is telling you something that you need to do? Is it the fact that you don't necessarily agree with what they are telling you to do? Is it the fact that you are an independent thinker and bowing to the man is something that you do not do?
I do admit that some processes are quite cumbersome and do not lend themselves to being easily distilled into a couple of steps that you need to follow. But then again, there is a reason for the process, although, hopefully not this reason.
It could be that we have cowboys as developers. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Having a cowboy or two on staff can come in really handy when facing a particular complex programming problem or when something needs to be resolved really fast.It comes at a cost, however, and that is the lack of process that cowboys use.
Do we not follow the process because it is too arcane and can only be understood by those who have spent years mastering the dark arts? No, some of the processes that we follow are really, really simple. For instance, "When you get a note from DeCo saying that you have to approve something, click the button that says 'Click Here!' and then click the button that says 'Approve'." (Yeah, yeah, there are those that will say "but our GoA clients can't access DeCo', but, they are only a small percentage of the 9812 approvals that DeCo tracked last year.)
I personally think we don't follow processes because we don't know why we need to follow the process. If people understood better why the process was in place and why we follow certain rules I think that they would be more likely to comply with the process. It won't guarantee it, but they might just be more amenable to follow along. There are some complex processes that we have in place and, to be honest, I don't know why we follow some of the rules we do. Maybe if someone told me why I'd be more likely to follow it.
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