224. Sloppy Operating Procedure

<p>Many businesses have “SOP’s” It sounds very official as an acronym, and what it stands for sounds even more official: Standard Operating Procedure. It’s a document which outlines a process within a business. What’s the purpose of the process? What are the steps to follow? Who will do different parts of the processes, and which parts can’t begin until another part is finished?</p> <p>I was telling a friend about the process documents I have for running my business, and he said, “oh, you mean SOPs?” I could feel a visceral reaction to that term. It made the muscles in my back and neck tense up.</p> <p>“Yeah, SOPs,” I said. “But they aren’t Standard Operating Procedures. They’re Sloppy Operating Procedures.”</p> <h3 id="processesmakebusinessespossible">Processes make businesses possible</h3> <p>Every business has processes. The employees of that business follow these processes to build a product, or perform a service.</p> <p>Processes make businesses possible. Processes help the business create a consistent product, at scale. Through repetition, processes allow businesses to create more of their product, at higher quality, with lower expenses -- to increase profits. Each time a process is followed is another opportunity to reduce error, or to simplify the process.</p> <p>It took me a really long time to realize that processes are important for creatives, too. I thought that process was the enemy of creativity. I’ve come to learn that process is creativity’s best friend.</p> <h3 id= "forcreativityforgetthestandardoperatingproceduretrythesloppyoperatingprocedure"> For creativity, forget the Standard Operating Procedure -- try the Sloppy Operating Procedure</h3> <p>I wasn’t completely wrong in thinking that process was the enemy of creativity. My problem was that I was thinking about process in the wrong way. I was thinking of process as an SOP -- Standard Operating Procedure, when I needed to be thinking of a process as the other SOP -- Sloppy Operating Procedure.</p> <p>Whenever I sat down to try to writing a Stan