People > Process
As I see more and more AI-driven companies come out, it becomes increasingly clear to me that business owners seem to believe that all they need is the perfect algorithm to find the perfect business flow. If you just have processes and systems talking to one another, who needs people!
Wrong. Bad. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a process. I love the order a good process brings to chaos, the clear requirements, the accountability. Beautiful. And a well written automation is chef’s kiss perfection.
But processes don’t innovate. They don’t think. A process is not capable of creativity. People are. And when CEOs forget that they are run by people, not machines, things come crashing to the ground.
Success isn’t about rigid structures or some AI talking to some other AI to do some task. It’s about human creativity and processes that support people, instead of actively making things harder.
Ever been in a meeting where someone says, “We can’t do that because it’s not in the process”? That sound you hear is me S C R E A M I N G .
Here’s what happens when bad processes run the show:
Teams lose flexibility. If a process is the be-all, end-all, then what happens when things change? No matter how bulletproof something looks on paper, reality throws curveballs. And you can’t throw a problem at a process and expect it to think on its feet. And if it does, um…
Creativity takes a hit. You can’t think outside the box when the box has twelve layers of approval and three pre-meetings about the meeting to discuss the box. I once argued for an hour with someone who was enforcing “true Agile” because I wanted to add a tag to tickets for product tracking. He said no. Because it wasn’t “true Agile.” That was one of the dumbest arguments of my career, and I used to work in customer support. That’s a high bar.
People disengage. Nobody likes being treated like a replaceable cog. If you only hired me to insert tab A into slot B, and every shred of creativity gets chewed up by rigid process, you’re not going to get my best. You’ll be lucky to get anything at all.
So….what does a good process actually look like?
For starters, it’s built by the people who use it. If leadership hands down a shiny new flow without input from the folks actually doing the work, they won’t trust it. They’ll bend it, ignore it, or invent a shadow process that actually works. The best processes come from collaboration, ensuring that the people using them every day actually believe in them.
A good process also thinks about the future. It needs to be flexible enough to grow with the team instead of collapsing the second you double in size. As part of this, that means yes, you need to regularly review it and iterate upon it. A process that is not getting regularly iterated upon is dead on the table.
Also, let’s kill this idea that processes need to be perfect on the first try. It probably won’t be. Your second one likely won’t be either. For something I have at my other job, I’m on process attempt number…..six, I believe. THAT’S OKAY! Being willing to tear something down and try again isn’t failure, it’s GROWTH. Progress! Over! Perfection!
Now if you’re thinking, OH NO, I’ve got some AWFUL processes WHAT DO I DO, HOW DO I GET ON THE RIGHT TRACK….
Take a deep breath…..
and let’s chat. :)
The Threadsmith Group Approach
At The Threadsmith Group, we help businesses create environments where people—not just processes—drive success. Whether it’s coaching, leadership development, or team optimization, we focus on the human element that makes organizations thrive.
Because at the end of the day, success isn’t about what you do. It’s about who does it—and how they work together.
Let’s build something great, together.