Rothman on Processes and People

Johanna Rothman has a recent entry on making processes independent of people. I almost cringed when I read it.

I do agree that you want to avoid a situation in which any particular person on a team becomes indispensable. (In fact, Gerald Weinberg recommends firing a person who is supposedly indispensable. More on that recommendation in a future entry.)

But the most efficient and effective processes are those that leverage the unique mix of skills that exist on a team at any particular time. You lose that advantage when you make processes completely independent of people.

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