Excerpt from: Words and categories matter in process management

My guess is that you have heard the axiom: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

If there were a process management equivalent, it would go something like this: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words used without proper definitions will derail my process management implementation.”

Ok, so maybe this version does not exactly roll off the tongue, but I promise you there is a point.

Imagine you are working to embed process management as a discipline into your business. What are you, primarily at least, seeking to manage by doing this? Is it fair to say you are primarily seeking to manage processes? If so, then the primary scope of the implementation effort must be centered on managing processes – not on managing other types of business information (ie: policy, guides, forms, training, etc.).

This means the technology you use, methods you employ, and stakeholders you engage must be focused primarily on managing the organization’s process information. Therefore, minimally, a clear definition of what a process is should be created and used to identify and properly categorize your process information.

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