Process rigidity can be catastrophic for businesses, especially considering the rapid pace at which our 21st-century business environment is changing. Organizations need processes that are flexible and adaptable to the times. They should also be a fit with advancing technologies as well as handle staff growth, staff reduction or the outsourcing of business components for competitive advantage. Companies need to innovate on an ongoing basis in order to outpace competitors. This is just as true of business processes as it is for other elements of the firm such as IT, finance, sales, marketing or business development. Everything needs to be in sync for the business to succeed. If the processes an organization uses are not aligned with its initiatives, the effectiveness of the business will inevitably suffer.
The term ‘entropy’ was originally derived from the second law of thermodynamics, a branch of physical science dealing with the transference of heat within a closed system. It is loosely associated with the amount of disorder or chaos in a thermodynamic system. On the other hand, entropy as it relates to processes, is the breakdown of the process due to rigidity—or failure to adapt in order to keep pace with an ever-changing environment. In other words, organizational entropy is the measure of the level of disorder in a closed process. If a process is not taking input from its own changing environment, then it is considered to be a closed system.
Any good process can suffer from entropy and go bad if it does not remain flexible enough to keep up with change. As an analogy, suppose you buy a brand new sports car that runs extremely well and sounds great when you drive it. You then decide that this car is too nice to drive around because it might get damaged. So, you make the decision to put it in an airtight storage garage where you cover it up to protect the nice paint job, and don’t drive it for the next ten years. After ten years, you uncover the car and try to start it, but to your surprise, the car fails to start. You finally get it started, and as soon as you try to drive it, the engine blows out completely.
What happened? The car was in immaculate condition when you stored it away ten years earlier. The process of checking it remained intact. Like clockwork you glanced to see that the cover was still in place, protecting the paint job, but what about the environment? Buildings settle as they age, and that once airtight garage had become drafty and cluttered, perhaps inviting rodents. Some of the engine seals began to wear down and were not as sturdy as they were initially. The routine process (i.e., that regular check of the car cover) didn’t adapt to changing conditions. Like the human body, cars need to be exercised (or in this case started and driven) from time to time to keep them in good shape. Since the car was not driven—or even started—for ten long years; and since the ‘process’ to check it wasn’t reviewed to see if it was adequate; entropy set in and the car failed when it was finally started. Likewise, if business processes are never reviewed, changed or are just too rigid to provide any flexibility, then they, too, will fall prey to entropy, and the point of the process—the reason you do that step in the first place—will suffer, like the car.
Analogies can only go so far, but this one clearly demonstrates the need for keeping processes in good shape. If processes are never reviewed to ensure they are still working to support the business, chances are they are not. Just because a process was great two years ago does not mean it is still great today. For that matter, in some business circumstances, even if a business process was excellent three months ago, it may not still be right for the business today. Just because a process was good once does not mean it will always be good, and you won’t find out until there is a failure, unless you initiate a procedure that regularly validates process effectiveness.
In some instances, managers and leaders make their processes overly bureaucratic—for the sake of bureaucracy—rather than thinking through the reason something is being done in a certain way. Processes that are overly bureaucratic are inherently not as flexible as they could be in terms of meeting business needs. What if the need for the process no longer exists? Yet it is so saddled in bureaucracy that no one notices, or the culture is such that no one speaks up; and your business continues to spend resources on a process with no purpose.
One of the major causes of process rigidity has little to do with the process itself—it is the people within the organization. Once a process has been in place and successfully working for a time, the people in the organization work hard to keep it the same. Anyone attempting to change the process can sometimes be met with severe resistance. People do not like to change, especially for those things that are a part of their routine, and that have worked well in the past. People will blindly follow a process once the process becomes established. The process becomes as much a part of the culture of an organization as the people themselves.
Here are a few key things that can be done to prevent or minimize the onset of organizational entropy:
- Processes should be regularly analyzed and updated based on changing variables within and outside of the organization.
- Processes should be streamlined to ensure that things are being done for a currently valid reason, rather than being done simply for the sake of being done. This seems simple enough, right? However, think about something as organizationally indoctrinated as the use of email. Email is so pervasive in organizations today that it is difficult for managers and their teams alike to consider a more efficient form of communication.
- Team members should receive support for identifying processes that no longer serve a purpose. This is perhaps one of the hardest issues to address, because over time, team members become attached to the existing process. A statement such as, “We’ve always done it this way!” is a telltale sign that process entropy is approaching, or may already be in place.
- Leaders and managers have to be vigilant and create a culture that ensures processes are adapting to changing variables around them. If the leaders and managers are not “walking the walk,” team members will be less likely to be attentive and keep processes up to date.
Leadership engagement is the single most important factor. Leaders must set a vision within the organization that invokes flexibility of process by design. Managers must challenge their teams to come up with a way to bring this vision to fruition. Reviewing processes on an ongoing basis to ensure they are able to adapt to the environment will help to identify and implement changes needed for the organization to remain competitive and ensure sustained business growth.
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About The Author
Dr. Milton Mattox is a senior-level business executive, leader, and technologist who has worked with some of the world’s most acclaimed companies. An expert in software engineering, information technology, and quality process management, he continues to practice the leadership techniques and methodologies outlined in his books and articles to successfully increase return on investment for organizations and companies.
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