Process Focus vs. Goal Focus
Last Updated on Monday, 3 July 2006 08:49 Written by Steve Monday, 3 July 2006 08:45
I ran across a short interview of Scott Molina by Mike Ricci. Both are triathletes and triathlon coaches and both try to shift the focus from outcomes to the training process itself.
Mike writes:
For the most part, the athletes that can let go of their time goals are the ones who usually achieve them. This has always been an intuitive sense as a coach, but I hadn’t thought about it until I heard Scott’s interview. Scott summed up this approach when he mentioned ‘process focused athletes, vs. results focused athletes’, meaning ‘enjoy your training, and the results will take care of themselves’. In other words, if you are so focused on the end result, you won’t have as much fun in training and the chances of you reaching your time goals diminish greatly.
With three sports you have to somehow train enough to master them all without getting burned out or injured. Turns out that’s incredibly difficult–pofessional triathletes are some of the most relentless and dedicated trainers in the world of sports. And the ones who succeed have figured out a way to enjoy the training while they are doing it.
Scott chimes in:
Most people I work with hire me to help them achieve their goals. That’s what they ask so that’s what I try to deliver. Many want to better their time or place in an IM [Ironman triathlon: 2.4 mi swim, 112 mi bike, 26.2 mi run] or qualify for Kona [the Ironman world champioships]. Nearly 100% of the time they are focused on a goal or two. What I try to convince them of along the way is that if they can learn to enjoy the challenges of daily training then the goals will take care of themselves. The hardest part of this sport is creating a life that includes training in such a way that the athlete looks forward to it. If they can do that then they’re 90% the way there.
I see parallels to working at a nonprofit. It’s a long slog as well. There are goals out there that are big–end hunger, preserve wilderness, change the way we use energy. It’s important to have these big audacious goals out there, but they can seem unattainable. There is so much emphasis on the goals, that often we don’t consider if the work that is getting us there is enjoyable. The nonprofit sector is notorious for burnout and staff turnover–turns out if you’re focused on goals alone, it’s hard to hang with the daily work.
Scott again:
The main question each athlete has to ask themselves to enjoy the process of training is “how can I make this more enjoyable?” Enjoyable doesn’t necessarily mean fun. I like words like challenging, uplifting, encouraging, satisfying, fulfilling, outstanding, achievement. These are the feelings you want to get from your training and often it’s just a matter of perspective. These are the feelings that lead to a successful process.”
One of the things I really like about my current job is that we focus on the process and try to make that enjoyable. What is the work, and how can we make it efficient, fun, and challenging? How do we fit it into your life so you won’t burn out in the thousand mile journey to those big goals? We’ve implemented a number of strategies (i.e. flex time, compressed work week, self-directed workteams, making room for research and development, etc.) and they do make the process more enjoyable. Our team seems to be a little bit less crispy around the edges from burnout because of them.
Mike again:
One important thing I took from this interview is that if you have a goal, and you know the training it’s going to take to get there, and you can’t meet those training goals, then you need to back off the ultimate race goal. I have seen many athletes short change themselves and think they had a bad race day because they didn’t hit their goals, when in reality they had a great race if you consider how much time they were actually able to train.
Another key aspect of our success is being realistic about the velocity of our progress toward our goals. We have decided that we should not ask employees to work 60 hours a week. This puts a limit on the time we have to move toward our mission goals. Acceptance of this constraint makes us prioritize and be creative in our work, and periodically check in, resetting expectations along the way.
And we feel successful because of it. We’re not saving all the wilderness areas in the Northwest today, but we’re doing what we can today to get us where we want to be in 10 years. By focusing on process rather than on goals alone, we’re aiming for sustainability, which is what you need when you’re going after goals that are 10-50 years out.
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Excellent post, the same would apply for business and any other goal you might have in life, I always like to cross with such posts as your because it helps me confirm my thoughts. I do have my own blog and I have a post about focus and a little law I call the 3% law to achieve success. You are welcome to visit it.
Thanks for existing
GS
Hi,
I just came across this post, and it was just what I needed – excellent analogy between sport and professional working life! I have experience from working both in the non-governmental and the governmental sectors, and it is so true that there is a lack of focus on process, and no realization that if we focus more on process, the goals will gradually be achieved.
However, I feel there is a growing awareness of the value of process-oriented thinking also in professional life, in particular in the non-governmental children and youth sector, where the level of youth participation in government decision-making is sometimes seen as even more important than the final product itself.
I am currently working on a publication where I am touching upon process vs goal oriented thinking, and thanks a lot for providing me with valuable inspiration!
Finn
Although not impossible but extremely difficult is teaching, practicing, and sharing the process foucs mentality in a bottom line profit outcome market economy. The reward is in the continued flight of the process and the trust that the goals might be met. Trust isn’t a priority in capitalism. But capitalism would benefit if more process thinking would take place when explaining business cycle adjustments. Recessions and peaks are just part of the process just like the human experience of being born, getting older, and dying. Another deliema is the English language and it lack of words that describe the objectivity of process thinking. Its either black or white, or up and down. Lets talk about religion with right or wrong.