Process
A path for avoiding responsibility.
Our economic, social and civic lives are governed by process.
There is no ancient temple, no marble statue, to honor this God. By hiding in plain sight, process escapes both undue praise and needed critique. Once the proper procedures have been followed the result is, if not fully legitimized, hardened in place.
The recent leaked document case is an example of this. Once clearance was granted, through official process, there was limited oversight of behavior. Isn’t this the case in many other institutions both public and private, both for profit and non-profit?
I’m not arguing against process itself. Clearly, we need to have procedures in place to operate efficiently and effectively. But simple and exclusive reliance on a “basic” way we do something, i.e. industry standard best practice, is no guarantor of excellence.
I see at least two possible concerns. The first should be rather obvious. No procedure for making decisions is fool-proof. When we rely overmuch on a “by the book” approach, we let our guard down. And thus we do not watch as carefully as we might for the unintended consequences.
The other is more insidious. Success in hiring, success for any choice, depends upon the follow-up. New hires are likely as good as the mentoring they receive. Marketing choices are the first step of a longer trial and error effort to meet both existing and changing circumstances.
And in education, an area where I have had considerable experience, teaching by the “best practice,” methods tested in psychological labs, are of limited use unless adapted to the unique conditions of different classrooms and unique abilities of different instructors. Much teaching success depends on personal imagination, intuition and innovation. That is, teaching is an “art” as well as a “science.” Credentials usually indicate some level of experience and knowledge of standard practices. They are not a guide to high levels of excellence. Rote teaching leads to rote learning, a poor preparation for life.
I’ve found that in any serious work the “process,” the basic procedures, are at best a starting point. If we sometimes seem numbed by the tasks that confront us, the cause may be our “loyalty” to the God (or Goddess) of process. There is safety in rigid adherence to procedure. We will look like “professionals.” But ….
It comes down to this. The fact that we are deliberately or inadvertently, preparing ourselves to be replaced by robots, does not excuse our present reliance on robotic performance.