Process Paralysis

I do like processes. They improve efficiency, clear responsibilities clear, make things measurable. Yes we need good process. Still something is wrong. I have seen tons of detailed, well defined processes developed with a lot of effort still not bringing much benefit. The reason is simple. Many people don't like clear processes, and try to circumvent them and so they make others who try to keep them suffer.  How serious this problem is depends on the company culture, the business and sociological environment and also on management. 

Should we abandon process because ill implemented processes make more harm than benefit? I don't think so. Anyway we should be careful which processes to define, which workflow to implement. In some companies the process culture is strong (e.g. in an engine factory) there we can go deep in process and workflow definition.  In other companies there is no process culture and we must be more careful. We should look for the most critical gatepost. For example if we see that there are problems with order management we could put an emphasis on order entry. Don't allow an incomplete order to enter the systems. If we have this the rest of the processing will be smoother. Process should be head heavy i.e. we prevent garbage to enter the workflow. Having this we can move on. Don't forget that to change a company culture requires either an extremely committed management (I haven't seen such a phenomenon yet :-( ) or a lot of patience and effort. Maybe you don't want to spend your life on educating culture... As in any investment look for the best investment benefit ratio (where investment is not only money but your stress level too).