(2006-09-26) Mcgrath Workflow Oversimplify

Sean McGrath believes that Work-Flow is hard to automate because any attempt to Model it ends up either an oversimplification or a legacy that's inflesible to change. In the Real World, workflows are not always simple combinations of states and if-then-else rules. There generally is no immovable set of roles. No inviolate set of transitions. Heck, it may not even be clear if anyone in the organization understands how the workflow actually works. Double-heck, it may not even be clear that the rules (such as they are) sit still long enough to capture them on a diagram - never mind in a computer program. Here in the real world, things change. Things change all the time. People play multiple roles - sometimes at the same instant - in order to get things done. Anything can happen pretty much any time - regardless of what the computer might think. People in the real world have to deal with it. Maybe you just need a CheckList that's auto-generated, and where you can add/change/delete items for this specific case? (Maybe some items in the template can't be changed/deleted, but they should be a minority.) And maybe only a subset of items on the list are required? Hmm, you probably need to start with the more complex model (to handle prerequisites, assignment to the appropriate person in each separate group that handles tasks, etc.), but a way to work around that plan. I bet there are some interesting User Stories you could write up...