Finding a (pattern) language for business processes that comes from human experience

Resumen

 "The beauty of having a verbal picture like a pattern language is its elasticity," observed C. Alexander during the initial design phase when he and his colleagues were constructing a campus in Japan together with people representative of the neighborhood's inhabitants. The community was just beginning to develop a collective vision of the life on that campus in the form of a distinctive pattern language that everyone could share. Similar to that, this article looks for a language that may be used to visualize business processes collaboratively, share knowledge, and keep that knowledge alive in spite of the necessary documentation. In the context of digital process innovations, implicit knowledge is particularly significant as companies endeavor to achieve a bal-ance between formalization and agile development. The elements of the language derived in this conceptual article are related to pattern mining in business processes in a variety of companies. To analyze the aesthetic qualities of a business process pattern using organizational aesthetics, it is necessary to comprehend it as a system and, even more importantly, as a Gestalt. In addition to the business process patterns as generic entities, this article defines the following elements: the atmosphere, the moment in which individuals have an experience, the shared vision, the process flow, the problem-solution structure, and expressed values. The article concludes by illustrating how companies find a language to conceptualize process innovation: When business process patterns can be combined with existing knowledge, they become especially valuable, allowing companies to unleash their creative potential.