Minimum Viable Process (!Product)

Ramkumar Venkatesan
Sep 9, 2018 · 7 min read

Over the years, I have used the Minimum viable product concept to define and ship products. In this post, I will discuss a new concept, Minimum viable process (not product) to help you get the maximum out of the right level of processes.

The minimum viable product concept has its successes because it acknowledges that we need to be iterative in building the product and get feedback early. It also acknowledges the principle of diminishing returns after a certain point in one axis of a product. A product can have multiple different axes. MVP suggests that rather than building all possible features along every axes, build an MVP instead.

Similarly, you need to acknowledge that an iterative building of processes with early feedback will reap us similar rewards. You should also acknowledge the concept of diminishing returns after a certain point in any axis of a process.

In this article, I refer to business processes as the process. Other types of processes such as legal, medical, compliance etc. are not considered in this discussion.

Evolution of processes

Beginning

Typically everything starts with minimal process, whether it is life or an organization. When you are born there are no processes for anything. You can eat at any time, sleep at any time, have a bath once in a while etc., you get the idea. That is the way it should be at that stage.

Growing up

Everyone is ready to put up with a baby’s whims, and in fact, they love it. As you grow up, the amount that others put up with steadily reduces. Processes are introduced increasingly. You are expected to finish the food on your plate, you are expected to not make a complete mess (a bit of it is still ok :)), study for your exams etc.

Growing up is not easy at the time it happens

I do not remember exactly how I felt when each of the changes was introduced in my life. I will not be terribly wrong if I assumed that I would not have been thrilled at the changes when it was introduced to me. Apology for the double negative there, but there is a difference between not being thrilled and being unhappy.

If those changes were not introduced in time, and I continued with the exact same behavior even now, I am sure it won’t be a pleasant experience for me or for those around me.

Why is there sometimes a resistance towards process?

Unless we understand why there is a resistance to a process, we cannot address the concerns effectively. We need to understand the psychology behind the resistance.

I think the following are the top two reasons:

1) Natural for any change to be viewed skeptically

We tend to question the need and need proof that it will work. This is especially true if we are tasting success currently with a current set of processes or lack thereof.

2) Rewards are not immediate but delayed

In any process improvements, the rewards are delayed. Everyone can appreciate the reward when they have a dessert. The reward is instantaneous. The opposite, resisting a desert is harder as the rewards for it will be delayed and possibly only decades later.

The book “Black Swan” changed the perspective on how I view analysis. Analysis is very much needed, but we will be setting us up for failure if we don’t take up anything that cannot be proven by some mathematical proof.

Hence, in this article, I am not going to present hard numbers of X people adopted a process, Y did not adopt the process, Z took a placebo process etc. and then proclaim that the process was actually beneficial to X people.

I strongly believe that there are areas for us to trust that something is likely to work, take the plunge, experiment and see for ourselves as to whether it is actually working. If it is not working, set it aside. If you get additional evidence in future, be open to revisiting the original conclusion.

Minimum Viable process

By adopting the concept of minimum viable process, both the reasons for resistance to process can be addressed effectively.

We can view “process” also as a product being built.

Now, let me analyze few questions that we typically ask in a product definition exercise.

What is the problem being solved?

Every product has to address a need. In the case of “Process” viewed as a product, the underlying value add is Time saved & Quality improved.

There will be dependent needs also addressed. Once time is saved, that can be effectively used in any other area such as Innovation. Innovation can be viewed as being powered by the time saved and hence of Process.

The above statement may not be immediately acceptable. We usually view Innovation as something very desirable and Process as bit undesirable. The natural question is how can something desirable come out of something undesirable. The applicable analogy here is how exercising helps people to stay fit. And only when the body is fit can the mind engage in intellectual pursuits.

Secondly, there are quality improvements. Quality is directly desired and perceived by customers. Hence it furthers the business objectives. Indirectly quality saves time by eliminating rework.

Few other needs like security can necessitate a process. In one way, security can also be viewed as an attribute of quality.

Who are the Stakeholders?

Every team member is a stakeholder. In addition, the virtual entity of a “team” is also a stakeholder. In fact, the team is the primary stakeholder.

Once you agree on the above, the rest of the justification can flow naturally. If the question “what is in it for the team” is asked instead of “what is in it for me?”, some of the answers become very obvious. An organization is a collection of teams and teams is a collection of people. If a process saves time for the overall organization, above and beyond the investments made in adhering to the process, then there is a positive ROI on the process.

However, if additional time is spent by teams by a process and the overall team does not benefit, then that process should be eliminated. Exceptions are e.g. are legal/medical processes which I am not considering in this blog.

Iterative evolution

Similar to building products, you can follow the method of first producing a minimum viable process. Let the teams use it. Gather feedback and incorporate solutions into the next version of the process.

This helps reduce the resistance to processes as the team understands that there is a feedback loop.

This also addresses the resistance due to delayed rewards. If a new process had to be done e.g. over 18 months and the first rewards will be seen only post that, the reward is also not observed by the teams incrementally.

Instead, when process roll-out is iterative, the teams can observe the rewards incrementally. The rewards are more evenly spaced out and it vastly improves the probability of success.

Process Buildup

Over time, just like product features, there can be a buildup of processes. Each process would have made sense to add individually. Subsequently, it could have lost its value for a variety of reasons. E.g. the problem the process was introduced to solve, no longer exists or some other process solves that problem.

The solution is to periodically take a critical look at all the processes and decide which ones to keep and which ones to throw out. When this is done, the team stays healthy and the resistance to process also goes away.

Summary

In this blog, I have proposed some reasons why there can be resistance to processes, identified the key value proposition of processes and identified the stakeholders.

I then introduced the concept of Minimum Viable Process. The idea is to iteratively introduce processes, gather feedback and evolve. This will help you in building the right set of processes. This will reduce the resistance by bringing in the rewards in increments for people to observe and take out the fear of a big process change.

Armed with one more definition of MVP, happy ‘Process’ing !

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