The magic of processes

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Processes are an integral part of everyday life. Every time we, as human beings, perform any kind of action, we are actually carrying out a process. This may vary from the way that we get dressed each morning, the way we cross the street on the way to work, to the way that we cook our food in the evenings. The key word used here is ‘way’ as, in essence, a process simply describes the way to do something or, to put it another way, an ‘approach’. It is possible to identify and relate processes for every single action that we take in life. However, this would clearly be a very large number, if not infinity!

Using processes effectively, however, is often not quite so straightforward. There is a big difference between observing a process and performing a process effectively. Consider the example of a magic trick being performing a process effectively. Consider the example of a magic trick being performed by a magician who is, quite clearly, following some sort of predefined process. It is easy to watch and follow a magic trick, such as a card trick. The magician shuffled the cards and asks a member of the audience to choose one. The audience member selects the card, memorises it, shows it to the rest of the audience and then places back into the pack. The deck is then shuffled. After a few clever words and a bit of showmanship, the card reappears underneath a vase, or in a pocket or on the other side of the room. The crowd are impressed and give their applause.

A trick such as this is one that everyone can follow and appreciate, but one that most people cannot actually perform themselves. In fact, it is possible for someone to follow the exact steps that were carried out by the magician, but to fail utterly in producing the chosen card. There are a number of possible reasons for this: