It’s always fun to watch new managers and small businesses discover a business trend. As long as you can watch from the outside.

It’s popularity peaked a few years back, but the E-Myth series is popping up in my circles again. In the E-Myth books, Michael Gerber argues that new businesses fail because people who are good at a thing–painting, writing, plumbing, whatever–start a business and figure they can be successful because they’re good at the thing they do. He says these folks need to be good at business if they want to succeed. I won’t dispute that point, but he goes on to argue (and I’m going to over-simplify here) the way to do that is to set up processes and systematized workflows to run the business in such a way that the entrepreneur is freed of responsibility for daily operations.

Which I guess makes sense if you’re running a factory.

Process is Good…

I’m not contra-process. I’m a process guy. Dismantling and rebuilding a proposed policy or process so I can create an exhaustively thorough and detailed flowchart is something I often bemoan having a natural affinity and mental compulsion for doing. Processes make a lot of things easier, but like love, processes cuts both ways.

…But Not Great

If you want to experience first hand why this matters, go to your local downtown and find a locally owned, non-franchise business. Spend 30 minutes asking paying customers why they chose the small business over the chain stores.

They sure as hell won’t say process.

They’ll probably say something like customer service, small town feel, or unique offerings. You know, the things small businesses can do that most big companies can’t.

Processes Work…

Now perform the same experiment at McDonalds and you’ll get process-centric answers: convenience, low cost, speed. You know, the things that make big companies big.

…But Will They Work For You?

If your business is built of processes, you can hire unskilled workers, pay lower wages, have more control and get reliable, measurable output. But you’ll be hiring robots, not people.

If you want people capable of using their judgement, creativity and innovative thinking, then you need to work on your culture and values. Scrap the processes.