One thing I am grateful for are the systems and processes in my life. They make my life easier and help me continue to flow with life. As a CS on Extended DISC, it also helps me function more effectively and efficiently. However, there were times in my life where I didn’t trust myself enough to keep doing what I was doing and follow the systems I had in place. Subsequently, today I wanted to share with you –
- What’s a Process?
- What is a System?
- What’s the Difference Between a System and a Process?
What’s a Process?
If we look towards the definitions of a process, a few are –
- “a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end.” ~ Google
- “a natural phenomenon marked by gradual changes that lead toward a particular result” ~ Merriam-Webster and Collins Dictionary, and
- “a series of actions that you take in order to achieve a result:” ~ Cambridge Dictionary
What is a System?
Basically a system is a repeatable process. However, there are many definitions on systems, including –
- “a set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network; a complex whole” ~ Google
- “A system is a way of working, organising, or doing something which follows a fixed plan or set of rules” ~ Collins Dictionary
- “a set of connected things or devices that operate together” ~ Cambridge Dictionary
- “A system is a network of interdependent components that work together to try to accomplish the aim of the system. A system must have an aim. Without an aim, there is no system. …A system must be managed. The secret is cooperation between components toward the aim of the organization. We cannot afford the destructive effect of competition.” ~ W. Edwards Deming
- “A system is a whole that consists of parts, each of which can affect its behaviour or its properties.” and “Systems behaviour is determined by the interaction of the parts, not the parts taken separately.” ~ Dr Russell Ackoff
What’s the Difference Between a Process and a System?
As you can see above, a process is the ordered steps to get something completed with an end result. And then all of those steps together create the system. An example of one of the systems in my life is paying my expenses. My process is –
- Expense arrives in the post or through my e-mail,
- Check payment date and make sure it aligns to what is in my calendar and self-management system,
- Ensure reminder is set in calendar to pay the expense,
- File expense in my “expenses to pay folder” (I have one for my business and one for personal),
- Pay expense on the due date,
- Record payment and/or reconcile payment into the financial software system,
- Place receipt in “enter expenses / receipts folder”,
- File receipt in current financial year box, and
- Return to step 1 for next expense payment.
The above system is quite straight forward and could be called “Paying my expenses on time system”. Each step in the process has a some time between them also. I have been doing this for many years now and occasionally have expenses fall through the cracks, however not as much as when I started. There are other systems I have that are a little more complex and require process mapping (however, will leave that for another day!).
Over to You…
I hope this post has given you some insight in to the difference between a process and a system. If you have any questions, please let them below 
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