“Well, we followed the process.”

We’ve all heard this line after a failed attempt. We didn’t get the desired result, but we ran a good process, so if we keep running it, we’ll eventually get the one we want.

We’ve also all been in the situation where we have to adhere to processes no matter what. And, most of the time, that’s a good thing.

But, sometimes processes are worth breaking. In fact, part of knowing the rules of certain fields is so that we know exactly when to break them.

I believe a lot in process. A good process improves the odds of making good decisions. A good process prevents us from making dumb mistakes. A good process removes emotion and increases probabilities in our favor.

A flawed process ignores instinct. Usually, when something “feels” wrong running a process, our instinct intuitively understands something doesn’t match the patterns on which we built the process.

Over-processing creates blind spots. When our processes produce results, we attribute our success to it and our failures to randomness, even if we felt something was off during our decision-making.

Another flaw of too much process is that if you’re not watchful the process can become the thing.

As Jeff Bezos once said in a shareholder letter,

We always ask, do we own the process, or does the process own us? In a Day 2 company, you might find it’s the second.

He’s indirectly referring to the famous Day 1 mentality at Amazon, where the startup mindset of running fast and innovating rules the day.

The flip to a “Day 2” process mindset happens quickly in high-growth organizations that must manage decision-making as headcount balloons. However, some lack of process, or flexibility in decision-making combined with instinct to create exceptional results in the first place.

Inexperienced leaders, and I’ve been guilty of this, blindly follow process.

Experienced leaders take results and ask, “How do we improve this process?” Or, “Why does our process not fit this decision right now?”

The process is not the “thing”. It cannot be a proxy for the result.

The “thing” is getting to the right outcome – a good investment, a successful product launch, or closing a big deal. That’s the goal we can’t lose sight of.