Some of the best say no. They constantly experiment in the direction of new offerings that solve problems and to solve problems along the way. They move forward one iteration at a time. It doesn't feel like taking unaffordable risks.
To improve performance, improve decisions
Friend, serial entrepreneur and investor, and "Signal To Noise" podcast partner, Doug Craver, recently commented that the quality of performance in any kind of work is equal to the quality of decision making behind it. Every job is a continuous flow of decisions. Wise leaders focus and coach on this, even more than motivation as a prime performance shaper.
The flaw of averages
Maarten van Doorn in the article "How wrong ideas about knowledge can ruin decisions" talks about the dangerous fiction of "averages."
A significant conclusion flaw is thinking information about averages could give us information about individuals. What's true about the "average" member of a group could be true about no members of this group. The average is an abstract concept and as such doesn't exist in the real world. Knowing it has no value in helping us interact at the individual level. Taking action on the fiction of an average impacts no individual in the group.
No amount of data or research, or political pressure behind it, can render averages of anything valuable. No policy can succeed in its intent if it's based on data averages, no matter how rigorous the methodology.
Mind matters
Whether we’re interested in our own performance and learning or that of others, we can increase capacity for both by shifting how we think in any context of performance or learning. This means how we pay attention, how we make decisions, how we organize unpredictability, how we build and adjust habits of mind. Understand mind opens clarity for all manner of puzzles and paradoxes.
Blog pivot: the science of mind
Since it's launch in August 2002, this daily blog has gone through a number of iterations, some inspired by the work on books. The last focus was inspired by the end book coming out this September: “PathCrafting: A Radical Manifesto.”
The next chapter here will focus on my lifelong interest in the science of mind: how we think, what shapes our thinking, and how our thinking impacts and influences every meter and molecule of our world. It will feature the whole focus on nuance, which is core to my life work and writing. It will also incorporate some of the gems from other writers and researchers I discover along the way.
PathCrafting
The next book, PathCrafting: A Radical Manifesto, will launch early September this year. It's focused on why goals and plans fail and what an alternative is. Stay tuned.
Interests can be as robust as goals
Even though interests can easily have no completion dates, we can commit any manner of time and resources to their paths, as much as would a goal.
Can paths simply be questions?
Is it possible that a path, an alternative to plan, can simply be a sequence of questions? Actually, yes. It makes sense since unknowns are guarantees along any path. Turning them into questions that organize the uncertainty in the direction of our interests is like being propelled along the path with natural forms of power.
Goals and heirarchy
It’s interesting to think about goals as tools of heirarchy They have in common our ability and willingness to be compliant, There is little to room for the disloyalty of doubting, questioning, and deviations. The shift from heirarchy to engagement requires we find and practice alternatives to goals.
PathCrafting
Paths are sequences of questions that guide us in the direction of our interests. Crafting paths involves getting clear on our knowns, questions, and actions. They help us organize any kind of chaos.
Timing
Once we get clear on what's known, unknown, and knowable about any interest, the timing of our questions is about when we can optimally know what's knowable. The root of this is: "This is knowable as soon as we..."
Depending on how we get things done, we can put it on our ”as time allows” list or on a calendar placeholder. This gives the process optimal momentum.
Clarity on all scales
We can create clarity whether we're considering the next couple decades or just today or this week. It's the same focus on what interests us and what we want to explore, test, and decide.
The feel of goals and plans
How do you feel when you create or are expected to follow goals and plans? Do doubts and concerns come up? Does your calendar laugh or cry? Do you get busy trying to decide how you will explain not being able to fulfill or follow them?
Well, you're not alone. And these might continue to be the norm.
The art of many interests
I received welcome confirmation this week from a very talented and accomplished entrepreneur in the tech and development spaces that he does a better job of "failing fast" and learning from every "failure" when he intentionally works on multiple and diverse interests at a time. We didn't have enough time for all his stories, much less his stories of others who travel similar paths.
Ambiguity
Uncertainty is a given in a world where change is a constant and the future remains intrinsically unknowable.
Goals and plans at least create the illusion of predictability, and at best can guide us in creating the conditions for what we consider good. They don't remove the certainty of uncertainty. Nothing has the power to do that.
That said, it's more practical and useful to focus instead on ambiguity.
Ambiguity is an unclear way forward in any aspect of life. Amidst the noise and signals, clarity is possible in any context of ambiguity.
We create iterations of clarity by focusing on our interests and questions. Together they guide us well from ambiguity to clarity. No goals and plans needed.
What would it look like if...?
This is one of the simplest ways to explore how we could make something new happen. Answering the question requires research, experiments, and reflections. Another option: Could this be possible? The only way to know is through curiosity and action.
Mapping paths
Path mapping is ongoing because our questions are ongoing. Every thing do and make happen evokes the next iteration of questions that give shape to our paths. A path is an intentionally timed sequence of questions we work toward answering through research, experiments, and reflection.
Back pathing
When we map out a path, we can consider what else that path would make possible, and then "back path" to other paths with the question: What paths could make these possibilities possible?
A business plan?
Even those who mandate startups to do business plans know the expected durations of their validity, which could be as little as a few days. Change is constant, and even moreso when we're dedicated to continuous learning. Business plans start out of the gate not valid if they're well-intended exercises in assumption, speculation, prediction, and opinion. None of these have the power of questions. They tend to make us mindless and divided instead of mindful and aligned.
Looks good on paper
It's always interesting when leaders in organizations bemoan the demise of plans that seemed good on paper. This is what happens when plans are based on opinions, exacerbated by the politics of power, rather than questions. Questions keeps efforts focused, realistic, responsive, and aligned.