I think broadly this metaphor works. But you, as an architect, have a breadth (probably) of experience to draw from that dictates how you work in that environment. I feel safe saying that those that are creating or managing processes in the JIRA environment often don't have the equivalent experience (or they have experience only in other equally dysfunctional uses of JIRA). And that JIRA doesn't exactly enforce good habits on its own (a la JavaScript, for example).