... just don't be surprised if you suddenly no longer understand how your systems work, and cannot change them. It's important to relate the advice to the size

... just don't be surprised if you suddenly no longer understand how your systems work, and cannot change them. It's important to relate the advice to the size of the company and the type of the market you're operating in. - Should startups with two-digit employee counts start doing this? Not necessarily. Will the lack of documented policies, processes and procedures stop them from growing at some point in time? Definitely. - Will this help you in a boutique business delivering highly individual solutions? Possibly, bot not necessarily. Will it help serve a massive customer base and use efficiencies of scale? Definitely. There's definitely a difference between bureaucratic waste and establishing a minimal set of meaningful policies, processes and procedures. Let's not dismiss the idea based on this confusion.