It's not about Process. It's about Objectives!

I had a conversation with one of my compatriots today, in which we discussed the issue of a certain manager we know and how that manager has stated that their major strength is "Process" and that he is a "Process" oriented guy. I'm not one to fault someone who is big into having a plan, because I do believe that the old adage is true that it is a key to success. I also like the quote of the Roman Philosophers Seneca who stated, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

Process is defined as - a systematic series of actions directed to some end

We can look at the philosophical issues involving the process of process. As Humans, we are conditioned to come together in various interests of commonality. We form groups structured around issues of common interest and from there hierarchical structures form from these groups. Leaders are chosen, Rationale is discussed, Objectives are formed, Agendas are formed around those objectives, Strategies are implemented, and in the end there will either be success or failure of the objective centered around the entire implementation of these processes.

There will always be internal and external effects at play in the causation of the success or failure of The Objective(s); but by in large, in my opinion, the success or failure of the Objective(s) will hinge more on the internal forces of the group versus any external forces that might impact the Objective(s). Also external forces tend to balance, because they can be as favorable, as they can be unfavorable.

Let me relate a story that has direct bearing on this issue. When I was a child, I liked playing Stat-o-matic baseball. Nobody around me cared that much for reality games based on sports and this was well before the days of Electronic Gaming designed with Artificial Intelligence, so I played the game sort of like solitaire. The funny thing is that my team always won. Why? Because, in the end, no matter how objective I tried to be, I was subconsciously rigging the game. How many people rig solitaire when they play it?

You see, if we go into a managerial process without detaching ourselves from the objectives, then in the end we will try to conform the goal to meet the process and folks, in real life it just doesn't work that way. That is the reason why gamblers generally become gambling addicts and eventually end up losing their livelihood. Because, they want things to turn out a certain way. They can't seperate the heart from the mind. They think they can manage the games, when in reality they have no control over the process. They can't control the players or the environment. In the end, these events where you have exponential variables and very little control of the environment at play, comes down to just dumb luck.

I am learning a lot of this from "Master capacity Training." I have a long way to go in this training, but I also think I have come a long way in that process and am better off for it. We are learning about Chaos Theory and Weak Signals. It is my feeling that this training is helping to me to assess situations better, by asking proper questions and interconnecting with others as resources to gather information, and then using this connected matrix of minds to move forward in a more methodical way, especially in the complex, chaotic world we now live in.

I will tell you that it has changed my mind on certain issues, such as marketing this area. We used to be known for furniture and textiles, so our identity hinged on products. As those products have become more and more detached from our community, we have lost much of our identity. The branding thought process has shifted away from material goods and moved towards non-material endeavors. We want this area to be known for creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. We want to be an area built upon a foundation of idea generation and we need processes that can help facilitate this mindset.

We cannot get there by being closed process oriented, where we narrow our scope and rationale, because we are afraid we might be wrong or someone might figure out that we aren't perfect. Folks, it ought to be clear by now, we aren't perfect. In the complex, technologically ever expanding world in which we live, you need to always run multiple processes towards objectives and have them intertwined. That way they can feed off of one another and when one of the processes loses energy, then more energy can be focused towards the other objectives. There always needs to be contingencies. You can't afford to get yourself locked into one path, one idea, one mindset...

We have to come at our objectives from every angle. I believe that balance is good for a community. I believe everyone deserves to be heard. No one person has all of the right answers, I certainly don't. and I feel that too many times in the past we have seen egos get in the way and these egos have kept us detoured from the path to progress. Objectives aren't about personalities. They are about ideas. We don't need leaders who hear you. We need leaders who are willing to listen and appreciate the context from which individuals speak.

In summing this up, I am not diminishing someone for saying that they are "Process Oriented." What I am saying is that I hope that a person who labels their self in such a way, understands that life isn't about process. It is about progressing towards objectives and having successes and learning from failures, because we are all going to fail, but those who can utilize failure as a tool towards future success will end up growing and maturing towards a truly healthier, more well-rounded, and richly rewarded life.