Comments on: The Spectrum: Freestyling to Process http://ijsm.org/2009/04/the-spectrum-freestyling-to-process/ Plan B? We're still working on Plan A! Mon, 10 May 2010 02:30:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Geof F. Morris http://ijsm.org/2009/04/the-spectrum-freestyling-to-process/comment-page-1/#comment-140 Geof F. Morris Mon, 18 May 2009 20:37:53 +0000 http://ijsm.org/?p=17#comment-140 Your first comment [sorry, these got held up in the spam filter], Spencer, has me thinking ... hard. Dangit. Your first comment [sorry, these got held up in the spam filter], Spencer, has me thinking … hard. Dangit.

]]> By: GFMorris.com » links for 2009-04-24 http://ijsm.org/2009/04/the-spectrum-freestyling-to-process/comment-page-1/#comment-115 GFMorris.com » links for 2009-04-24 Sat, 25 Apr 2009 02:30:48 +0000 http://ijsm.org/?p=17#comment-115 [...] The Spectrum: Freestyling to Process @ The Indiana Jones School of Management (tags: gfmorris_comment) [...] [...] The Spectrum: Freestyling to Process @ The Indiana Jones School of Management (tags: gfmorris_comment) [...]

]]> By: Geof F. Morris http://ijsm.org/2009/04/the-spectrum-freestyling-to-process/comment-page-1/#comment-114 Geof F. Morris Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:13:19 +0000 http://ijsm.org/?p=17#comment-114 Processes are important. Don't get me wrong. But processes take time, and time is not always available. Process is great for workflows, and I'd argue necessary; I don't find that I can manage via a process, though. At best, a process for me is a checklist of things that I have to get done to make other stakeholders happy. Processes are important. Don’t get me wrong. But processes take time, and time is not always available. Process is great for workflows, and I’d argue necessary; I don’t find that I can manage via a process, though. At best, a process for me is a checklist of things that I have to get done to make other stakeholders happy.

]]> By: AnotherCoward http://ijsm.org/2009/04/the-spectrum-freestyling-to-process/comment-page-1/#comment-113 AnotherCoward Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:07:21 +0000 http://ijsm.org/?p=17#comment-113 Kat - there's no such thing as "no process." The real driving influence in the difference of thought between Freestylers and Process Weenies is the level of formality. And I think the level of formality is generally driven by (1) the level of complexity of the environment you're in and (2) the competence of your personnel. Process is foremost a communications medium - a means of saying what you've accomplished and where it is. At heart, I'm a Completionist Freestyler. But if I can tell that my engineers are not as competent as I am, I start to become a Process Nazi to make sure they get their work done in a manner that I can expect to have some level of confidence in their product. It really is a spectrum, and I set my team's spectrum setting based on our environment and their ability. Kat – there’s no such thing as “no process.” The real driving influence in the difference of thought between Freestylers and Process Weenies is the level of formality. And I think the level of formality is generally driven by (1) the level of complexity of the environment you’re in and (2) the competence of your personnel.

Process is foremost a communications medium – a means of saying what you’ve accomplished and where it is. At heart, I’m a Completionist Freestyler. But if I can tell that my engineers are not as competent as I am, I start to become a Process Nazi to make sure they get their work done in a manner that I can expect to have some level of confidence in their product.

It really is a spectrum, and I set my team’s spectrum setting based on our environment and their ability.

]]> By: Kat http://ijsm.org/2009/04/the-spectrum-freestyling-to-process/comment-page-1/#comment-112 Kat Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:00:12 +0000 http://ijsm.org/?p=17#comment-112 Being one of the "process-oriented" types, I'm not entirely sure I agree with what you've stated here. Granted, I'm not a program manager. I'm a step or two below that, but from my perspective process keeps us from screwing ourselves over. Here's an example: I just got back from testing a software release at my customer's site. There is no documented process on how I get my test products from the customer's CM (there's a process on our end of how they're delivered to the customer and it's followed to a T.) down to the test floor. As a result, during the migration down to the test floor several things went wrong, but with no process, no one contacted the right people to indicate that there were issues. Then, when I went to start my testing, I was using the incorrect versions of files, which caused several of my tests to fail. Because there was no documented process, of course my customer blames me for having screwed something up. Now that I've got everything fixed and got my software tested, we're going back and forcing the customer to have a process (doesn't that just sound hysterical?). Process would have prevented a lot of these problems and of course my program management supports process... once things have blown up and I've illustrated why enforcing process earlier in the program would have prevented these issues... *sigh* I think I'm what they call a process champion at my office.... Being one of the “process-oriented” types, I’m not entirely sure I agree with what you’ve stated here. Granted, I’m not a program manager. I’m a step or two below that, but from my perspective process keeps us from screwing ourselves over. Here’s an example:
I just got back from testing a software release at my customer’s site. There is no documented process on how I get my test products from the customer’s CM (there’s a process on our end of how they’re delivered to the customer and it’s followed to a T.) down to the test floor. As a result, during the migration down to the test floor several things went wrong, but with no process, no one contacted the right people to indicate that there were issues. Then, when I went to start my testing, I was using the incorrect versions of files, which caused several of my tests to fail. Because there was no documented process, of course my customer blames me for having screwed something up.
Now that I’ve got everything fixed and got my software tested, we’re going back and forcing the customer to have a process (doesn’t that just sound hysterical?). Process would have prevented a lot of these problems and of course my program management supports process… once things have blown up and I’ve illustrated why enforcing process earlier in the program would have prevented these issues… *sigh* I think I’m what they call a process champion at my office….

]]> By: AnotherCoward http://ijsm.org/2009/04/the-spectrum-freestyling-to-process/comment-page-1/#comment-111 AnotherCoward Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:04:26 +0000 http://ijsm.org/?p=17#comment-111 In my experience, Process weenies are incrementalists and not completionists. They need that checklist to feel like they're accomplishing anything ... but when you ask them about the big picture, they fumble for words and more often than not point at the process as the big picture. In my experience, Process weenies are incrementalists and not completionists. They need that checklist to feel like they’re accomplishing anything … but when you ask them about the big picture, they fumble for words and more often than not point at the process as the big picture.

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