When the process becomes the thing

The Process is the Thing
By Paul Herbig
One of the perks of being a columnist is that sometimes you can stray away from the declared theme of your columns. I have been known to mix marketing, business, politics, and social paradigms together. This I will also do today. And being a fairly modest person, if I uncover a law of the universe, I think I have the right to name it after myself:
Herbig’s Law #29: When the Process becomes more important than the output, the entity is in decline.
I once worked for a large computer company that had a very sophisticated product life cycle management system (PLCM). This in itself was not bad, it was positive in that PLCM systems help companies monitor and control the product development process. In theory (and in actuality if correctly achieved), the system allows the company to identify losing products and projects quickly and thus delete them, creating the way to add monies towards development of more likely successful and profitable products. It also served as a mechanism to identify problems in the developing products early so as to be corrected early and not inhibit the development or push back announcement or introductions of new products.
Once upon a time, the document for this company’s PLCM process was several pages. However, as time went on and bureaucracies abounded, and many products went through the PLCM process, new wrinkles and regulations and requirements were added. To understand why, one must remember that the purpose of a bureaucracy is not to succeed, just not fail. And every new requirement was added for the sole purpose of guaranteeing failures would not get into production. Every time a product would be introduced and fail or a hiccup would be seen in the PLCM process, a new set of regulations would be introduced to make certain it would not happen again.
By the time I was hired, the Phase Review process (their name for the PLCM process) was contained in two volumes, each at least 2 inches thick, and an entire set of project managers whose only purpose in life was to make certain these rules were followed exactly. And they were. At every stage of the product’s existence, the overriding question became not “Is it profitable and a successful product?” but “Have you followed the Phase Review Process?” Months and months were followed by years but the process had to be followed. In some aspects, it was successful as the only products that actually succeeded in being introduced were well thought out, crafted, nicely-configured products. The only problem was that they were usually three or four years behind the leaders and could only hope for a small niche market if any. Needless to say, this company is no longer in the industry, having abandoned it shortly after I left.
Another example, this one closer to home.: When US troops first invaded Iraq five years ago, they soon found out it was not going to be a conventional war as roadside bombs and mines started ripping up the thinly armored vehicles. Five years afterwards, the number of sufficiently armored vehicles is still in short supply. Why? Because due to previous decades’ $500 hammers and other exploits, the military procurement process had been heavily revised. Specs must be created. Everyone must have their opportunity to provide input. Suppliers must be checked out for OSHA, EEO, Diversity, EPA, and every other set of initials available. Then bidding is allowed. Afterwards, a winner is declared but then losers can appeal the process. After long (and equitable) review process, bids are finally let. Companies then can begin the production process subject to budget availability. This is an admirable process but one where the output has all been but forgotten: To win a war. In World War II, the Hellcat fighter was created from scratch within a few short months to combat the zero, contracts were let, production began, and planes built. Within two years, the fighter had swept the zeros from the sky. If this were WWII with the same military procurement process available, we would be shaking the hands of the Japanese as they approached the Potomac while still negotiating the finer points of the contract with the designated vendors.
The moral of the story: If the Process dominates in your entity, either revolutionize or bail out, the ship is beginning to list.

Paul Herbig is Managing Partner of Herbig Marketing Associates, a renown national marketing consulting firm, and the former Dean, Ketner School of Business, Tri-State University.