Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
ahead of time, the organization was experiencing more failures in a process
that had previously been carried out with few reported problems.
6.12 Another Example of Process Misunderstanding
One of the more senior engineers I spoke with at NANO told me he
believed in process, but felt much of the work he did wasn't relevant to a
defined process. I asked him if he would explain what he meant. He said he
often had to work out a design approach that was new. He said this was a
very
creative and dynamic process.
Often the Director would call him up on
short notice with a problem that needed a solution. After analyzing and
developing a solution that might solve the problem, he would call the
Director and they would brainstorm it over the phone. If the Director liked
the idea, he might ask that the approach be documented in a white paper.
The white paper would be emailed to others on the Director's staff so they
could provide their comments. If they liked the idea the next step was to
take it into a lab environment to prototype it for proof it would work before
making any final
decisions
about using it. At the end he said that he thought
what he had described should make it clear why he could not follow a
process in doing such work.
What became clear to me while listening was his belief that any kind of activity
that involved thinking, brainstorming, and learning was outside the bounds of
process definition. He seemed to believe that until he could give someone
exact “cookie cutter” steps to follow that required
no further decisions
, any asso-
ciated work should not fall within the realm of a defined process.
At the conclusion of the interview, I told him that while he didn't think he
followed a process, he actually did follow a very sound process. He had
described it to me, including the stakeholders who get involved (reviewers)
and the products produced (white paper).
I also shared with him that just because he didn't know where the effort
would lead when he started was no reason to think he could not follow a
documented process. By writing down exactly what he had shared with me,
others could learn and follow the same process. I suggested that it would
also be beneficial to examine all the roles of the people who were sent the
white paper for review to ensure all key people who should review it ahead
of time were being included.
