What's Your Process?
The author Robert Greene, in his Ted talk on personal transformation, made a comment on process near the end that stopped me in my tracks.
He was discussing various paths of self-transformation. In shaping who we are, he makes a distinction between one-off, external vehicles for insight (gurus, therapy, drugs, etc) and more methodical paths. He notes that the former are “not connected to process and so any changes that occur, don’t last.”
At work, process is a dirty word. But it’s just a tool, and like all tools, it’s how they are used that matters. In business, process is pointed at problems we as employees care little about. Rules and structure are applied not for employee development, but instead for the benefit of the company - protecting intellectual capital, saving money, etc.
However, people at the top of their game use repeatable effort differently. Top performers harness process as a vehicle to improve, learn, get better, and develop themselves in an intentional way.
Enter LeBron James via an Instagram post he made on vacation in 2016.
“Even on vacation, The grind never stops! I’m addicted to the process. It’s my drug!! #StriveForGreatness””
You can be sure if someone is the best in the world, they have a process that serves their mission.
If it matters, you need a process. What’s yours?