“The maxim “Nothing but perfection” may be spelled P-A-R-A-L-Y-S-I-S.”
– Winston Churchill
It’s about the outcome, dang it!
Process brings order and order brings measurement and measurement informs coaching, growth, improvement.
Unless it doesn’t.
Process brings order up to a point. Beyond that point, it brings paralysis. It becomes something we hide behind. A crutch. An excuse.
So, how do we protect against process paralysis?
We act. We draw lines. We make decisions and we trust our instincts, up to a point.
Beyond that point, our instincts can make us reckless, undisciplined, unaware and ineffective.
Sounds like a balancing act, doesn’t it? It’s more like a pendulum. Most companies see the pendulum swing from one end to the other. Paralysis to recklessness. The key for teams that want to make a difference is (surprise!) to ask “Why?” Asking “Why?” allows us to freeze the pendulum at the most effective point. (The Heston Group believes that point is about 4-degrees to the process side of balanced.)
Why do we have this process? Why was it originally put in place? Why haven’t we updated it lately? Why do people resist it? Why do people hide behind it? Why does it work? Why don’t we see if we can improve it?
Why are my instincts screaming at me on this matter? Why am I resisting the discipline I know gets me further along the path and honoring an impulsive instinct to veer off in my own direction? Why do the process people not trust me? Why do I not trust them?
When we know “Why?” we know what we need to know. Everything starts from “Why?” And, when it starts there, it goes to a good, happy place.
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