Wikis, Grafitti, and Process

Clay Shirky: Process is an embedded reaction to prior stupidity. When I was CTO of a web design firm, I noticed in staff meetings that we only ever talked about process when we were avoiding talking about people. [via Sam Ruby]

Clay Shirky makes such a perceptive observation about how process gets created that I’m surprised that I hadn’t thought about it in quite those terms before. While talking about the lack of process in Wikis, he explains why we end up with “layers of gunk that keep [the] best employees from doing interesting work, because they too have to sign The Form Designed to Keep You From Doing The Stupid Thing That One Guy Did Three Years Ago”.