A Process vs. a System LO17006

John Constantine (rainbird@trail.com)
Sat, 14 Feb 1998 08:52:37 -0700

Replying to Employee Ranking Systems LO16900

Jon,

Perhaps the following would help to brighten the picture a bit:

Consider the "food processor"...it chops, cuts, slices, dices, minces,
etc., etc., but it is not the evening meal. It is a part, but not the only
part, not the required part, not an irreplaceable part, not a part that
will always do what the operator requires. It is used for a lot of things
which can be done, or not, by other means, by other processes.

The system, then, could be seen to be the overall meal; it takes planning,
money, the "right" ingredients, interaction with others (or not), people
to eat, chairs, a "home" in which to eat, lights to see by, electricity
and/or gas....and so on. Get the picture.

Sometimes we see one thing as the only one thing; the BIG tree in that
forest of trees. And we can get lost in the sight of it.

The process is not the system, but the system contains many processes.
Perhaps it is a good idea not to develop an attraction for, or reliance
on, ONE process over any other alternatives which might exist. The system
is better off when better methods, less harmful to the rest, and more "in
sync", are sought after, used, remembered for their value, and put in "the
book" for another time, with a smiling family on the receiving end of it
all, the beneficiaries of the system.

I hope that is not overly simplistic. If so, just say so and we'll
complicate it a bit.

jon wrote:
> Could you give me a simple but not simplistic explaination of the
> difference between a process and a system?
>
> Also are there not systems and processes that encourage abuse or if not
> encourage create conditions in which abuse increases? I think of Frans
> Fanon's "Wretched of the Earth" (I think). Is the legal system not an
> attempt to reduce the opportunity for abuse? I know this is quite flawed.
>
> Name: Jon C. Jenkins
> E-mail: imaginal@pop.pi.net (Jon C. Jenkins)

-- 

Sincerely,

John Constantine Rainbird Management Consulting PO Box 23554 Santa Fe, NM 87502-3554 Rainbird@Trail.Com http:\\www.trail.com\~rainbird

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