So you have The Process and The Outcome dating. You would have thought that they are having a good time. Maybe. What kind of relationship do they have?
These are your available combinations
Model 1. The Process is the key; the outcome is secondary. This is a type of journey of experiential activity. Be clear about this. If you are serious, you need to accept unpredictable and even unwanted outcomes. Enjoy the process, nothing wrong with this. Journeys are good. To those asking you for a particular outcome, say you don’t know. The ‘how we do it’ matters to you more. Be brave and say so.
Model 2. The Outcome is king; the process is there to produce an outcome. OK. Clear. So, here, any process is a good process as long as it gives me the outcome. Now review all your processes and detach yourself from any love you may have for any of them. They don’t matter in themselves anymore. As long as you get the outcome, you should be happy. So, stop nagging about the process.
Model 3. Both Process and Outcome are equally important. Wow! Then you’d better craft the connection very well. If it’s a marriage of equals, it’s a marriage of equals, not one more equal than the other. Note: in this type of ‘I want this’, one starts very equal but soon often discovers that you care more abut one than the other. As soon as you realise this, leave model 3, and jump to any other or you’ll be very dishonest in the least and, at worse, kidding yourself, and never reaching expectations on top of it. Never Satisfied Land is a frequent destination of this model.
Model 4. Both Process and Outcome have not been weighted. They are just there. Connection is assumed. In summary you have a pretty casual view of things and a very loose approach to life. Congratulations, you have qualified for a long holiday. Goodbye.
The simplicity of the above combinations is powerful. Most people ‘want everything’: a good process, a good outcome. These people assume that the word ‘good’ miraculously links both. But it doesn’t. It is very difficult (I repeat, very) to craft the perfect connection between both.
Saint Randomness also intervenes here. Many good outcomes seem to come sometimes from pretty lazy processes. Also, pristine processes may deliver great garbage.
Make sure you apply critical thinking to Your Plan. Make sure you know where your heart is. The Outcome Junkies, will do anything in order to achieve a KPI. That may include murder. The Process Junkies, love processes so much that they marry them at any cost as well.
The leader’s role assumes a pre-existing human condition. It’s called a functioning brain preferably attached to a heart. Use your pre-existing human condition fully. Don’t kid yourself. Choose.
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