Processes have to serve the development of the product
- Intercom is a product-first company, meaning processes have to focus on the product’s development rather than the product developing out of predetermined processes.
- At Intercom, we have a strong culture of solving the right problems by defining the true problem and how we solve it using a small, well-scoped project.
The subconscious benefit of processes
- Processes are usually comfortable in the sense that they are institutional habits
- Work that is aligned to a process is similar to a habit
- The process is already de-risked, thought through, and ideally has a proven track record of success
Solving the Problem You Have
- Define the problem you have
- If you don’t identify the problem clearly, then you need to ask yourself why you are even starting
- Processes must be agile and innovative to let you move fast
- Solving proper problems with proper processes will allow you to focus on other important things
Define the success criteria
- Don’t start with the process, start with what success looks like
- Starting from success gets rid of your biases around the design and focuses instead on the best outcome possible
- Remember, usage without value is a clear failure, so usage of the process in itself is not a measure of success
Update your engineering processes periodically
- If processes don’t solve real problems, they harm your culture
- To make sure that you are not solving the wrong problems, you must encourage everyone using the process to challenge the status quo
- In order to achieve that, you have to ensure that your processes are easy to change
Master your habits – and your processes
- Processes should be beneficial and helpful without becoming burdened by bureaucracy
- Successful companies are defined by their ability to develop and change their habits, rather than becoming beholden to them
- Some processes are good, some are bad, and some outlive their usefulness
