 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
| This page is not considered a guideline on Wikipedia – the original author thinks it would be marvelous if all Wikipedians followed it, but most of the point is to think first. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Instructions are useless to restrain the clueless or malicious, as the clueless won't understand and the malicious won't care. Don't add excess detail to instructions. |
Process is important to writing the encyclopedia or we'd all kill each other. Following process really will avoid confusion. But that doesn't mean more process is therefore better. Most people don't read and remember all of the millions of words of Wikipedia process. If our process does not follow obviously and elegantly from Wikipedia's few fundamental policies, editors will not remember it or understand it.
Process bloat is an ever-present danger. Process is added on the spot as needed; it must be pruned and sanity-checked regularly.
Process is only a means to the ends that policy spells out. Core policy is solid, but process must stay fluid.