Happy Sunday, Servant Leader. After a month of resetting, refreshing, and reprioritizing, I've discovered that muscle memory isn't what it's cracked up to be. Take painting, for example. I enjoy painting, but I will never be paid by the hour to paint anything. I take too long, focus too much on clean lines, and enjoy the focus that comes from the time spent. Others in my family would rather get the painting done so we can all enjoy the finished room. Sure, some tasks are just that - tasks. But if we can, shouldn't we search for the joy in the task? As early as 1883, William Allingham said, "Twas for the journey, not for the goal, I cared." (Evil May-Day, London: Longmans)
Finding joy is sometimes difficult, but difficult does not equal impossible. For an out-of-work pentagenarian with lumbar hardware, painting the base of the porch without painting the underlying foundation can be...challenging. It can also be extremely rewarding if you focus on enjoying the journey. Ignoring the mantra that painting was "for protection, not perfection," also helps.
What does this have to do with business?
I'm glad you asked. Again, as an out-of-work pentagenarian, one scripture speaks loudly to me:
Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matt 6:24-34, NKJV)
In life, as in business, we are frequently goal oriented. We justify our remote existence by our deliverables and decry "the process." I'd challenge you, Servant Leader, that the process is more than a means to an end, it is the journey that improves the next iteration. Trudging through the process to achieve a goal ignores the fundamental lessons and joy that can be found along the way - every time. (Cue plug for Continuous Process Improvement/Lessons Learned/After Action Reporting) Finding the joy in that process will improve your work, your team, your deliverables, and your company. So, the next time someone tells you that you are too "process focused" or that you have "too many processes," take a step back and inspect the process to see if it can be made more efficient, but don't forsake the process altogether.
After all, The Father didn't challenge us with surviving the journey until our days end. If that was His goal, why not end the journey at the point of salvation? No. He challenges us with a productive journey.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. (Matt 28:19-20, NKJV)
Happy journey, Servant Leader, and Happy New Year!
