The Process Manifesto

Stop Throwing Away your Work

Most people underestimate the power of process.

They stick it in the back seat and forget about it until it’s too late.

But they shouldn’t…

Processes run the world. Literally all of it.

Stocked supermarkets, on-time trains, and safely landing planes are all made possible by systems of intricate, interlinked processes.

Yet process management gets so little attention.

People buzz around projects, OKRs, and strategy. 

But when it comes to executing the company’s most important activities, people stop paying attention.

Why is that?

Is it because we’re addicted to novelty?

I guess it’s more fun to kick your shoes, drink kombucha and pretend you’re changing the world with kanban boards.

The fact is, most work that happens in any successful team is process… 

Not projects, and not strategy.

It’s activities like making and selling a product or delivering a service.

Companies like Salesforce, Sony, and SpaceX see the value of well-maintained and iterative processes.

They get that running one project at a time is wasteful.

It’s basically throwing away your work.

These legendary companies encode their core business activities such as selling software, building TVs and launching rockets into polished processes.

It’s this polish that creates miracles.

Unfortunately, these teams are the exception.

As we enter a period of economic uncertainty, building efficiently and sustainably will become a requirement for survival.

Projects can be great for incubating an idea or figuring stuff out, but that is the end of their usefulness. 

Successful teams quickly transform that project into a process and shift focus to scaling and optimizing what is working.

This shift is the moment huge value is created.

And it’s why we’re so passionate about process management.

The area of a business that matters the most. 

It’s why we obsess about it day and night, working tirelessly to fulfill our mission: to make recurring work fun, fast and faultless for teams everywhere.

It’s time to forget about projects and get serious about process.