Processing a Rant - The Daily WTF

Processing a Rant - The Daily WTF: "Guidelines are better than checkpoints. A lot of organizations use process to control their employees. “You must do this, and you must do it this way.” Compliance is enforced, sometimes with a carrot, usually with a stick. This grows from bureaucracy, which itself grows from a fairly natural need to ensure consistent performance regardless of which “human resources” are involved in an effort. Bureaucracies don’t care if they turn into a Harrison Bergeron dystopia where performance is consistently poor- just as long as its consistent.

The purpose of a process is not to ensure compliance. It’s to provide a well-paved path that guides your developers to success. Which brings us to our penultimate point.

Processes should grow from institutional best practices. While you can certainly learn from other organizations, and trade magazines, and articles like this one, the only people who know how to do what you specifically do are the people who do it- you."