The (Business) Process Deadlock
4 days ago
- #business-processes
- #organizational-resilience
- #VUCA
- Small companies often operate ad hoc, making quick decisions that generally work well due to shared understanding.
- As companies grow, ad hoc decision-making becomes inefficient, leading to more errors and the need for structured business processes.
- Business processes define workflows, roles, and responsibilities, aiming to standardize operations and reduce errors.
- Processes can lead to responsibility diffusion, where employees focus only on their tasks, ignoring broader issues and blaming the process for failures.
- Processes become rigid over time, making it difficult to adapt to unexpected situations or market changes.
- Autopoiesis causes processes and roles to expand beyond their original purpose, creating inefficiencies and non-value-adding work.
- In dynamic VUCA markets, rigid processes hinder resilience and adaptability, making companies fragile.
- Resilient organizations require alignment on purpose, values, and principles, rather than rigid processes.
- Building resilience involves continuous reflection, adaptation, and hiring all-rounders who can handle unexpected situations.
- While some processes are necessary, they should support rather than define work, remaining flexible and adaptable.