RE: 60 Hours per Week at Level 1 Process Maturity

[Roy Jacobsen <rjacobse -at- greatplains -dot- com>]

>Yes, but an increase in what you're calling Process Maturity Level 
>invariably leads to a decrease in what I call "Enjoyable Workplace." When 
>a company gets too stiff, it breaks, instead of bending. Of course, 
>that's just my experience, but I prefer companies with fewer processes 
>and more flexibility. I suppose that's why I tend to work for startups 
>more than megacorps, higher number of hours and all.

Invariably? Perhaps in your experience, but in my experience, it doesn't
have to. Actually, I'm in a company that's trying to move up the process
ladder, and it is making things more enjoyable for me, rather than less.
With the processes defined and implemented, I _know_ what I have to do, and
when I have to do it, and I _know_ what everyone else on a team is doing.
Fewer things are missed or forgotten. Developers don't "forget" that they
can't add or change a feature and not let the doc team know about it.
Everybody has a chance to review design docs, and they are adhered to, or
changes are done via a defined change order process. None of this stifles
creativity, but it adds a dimension of discipline to it.

Mike, I wonder if the decrease in "Enjoyable Workplace" you've observed is
due to the rigidity of the processes, that is, once they are in place, they
are immutable. We've tried to avoid that; if a process needs to be changed,
we change it. If it doesn't work, we scrap it and create one that does.

Regards,
Roy M. Jacobsen
Documentation Supervisor
Great Plains
1701 38th Street Southwest
Fargo, ND 58103
USA
rjacobse -at- greatplains -dot- com

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