Procesits

Procesits are practitioners and scholars who advocate a process-centered approach across disciplines. The term derives from the word process and the suffix -ist, signaling a professional or theoretical orientation toward processes as the primary units of analysis and change.

Origin and use: The concept emerged in interdisciplinary discourse at the turn of the 21st century, drawing on process philosophy, systems thinking, and contemporary process-management practices. In some communities, Procesits seek to align design, execution, and evaluation by tracing how work flows through organizations, technologies, and networks.

Key ideas: Procesits emphasize flow over static state, interdependence among actors, and feedback-driven adaptation. They view projects, products, services, and policies as sets of interacting processes rather than discrete components. They advocate mapping and modeling to reveal bottlenecks, variability, and handoffs, and they support iterative improvement and collaborative governance.

Methods and tools: Process mapping (flowcharts or value-stream mapping), process simulation, performance metrics focused on cycle time, throughput, quality, and cost, and governance mechanisms that ensure cross-functional accountability.

Applications: Industry sectors such as manufacturing and software development, as well as healthcare, education, and public administration. Practitioners may work in consulting, internal process improvement, or academic research.

Criticism and status: Some observers view the term as overlapping with established fields like business process management and systems thinking, while others see it as a distinct, process-oriented philosophy. Critics warn against overemphasizing processes at the expense of outcomes or adaptability.