Focusing on the Process, Not the Goal

“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” ― Zen wisdom

Have you ever set goals for yourself that never seem to be attainable? Whether it’s those new year’s resolutions to lose weight or those fundraising goals to increase funding by the end of the second quarter of the fiscal year, sometimes it seems like the goal gets further and further away from you every time. What we may not always be aware of is that it’s not the goals that are unrealistic or unattainable, it’s that we are so focused on the goal that we overlook our process.

Referring to our Zen quote of chopping wood and carrying water, whether it’s seeking enlightenment or achieving self-actualization, one of our primary obstacles is that our goals are ill-defined, and as a result, our process is even more nebulous. On the other end of that equation, if we have very strict criteria for achieving our goals, we constrain ourselves to what may potentially be a far more limited process, meaning we don’t see that there may be alternative processes and shortcuts.

A Zen-like approach (not wholly Zen, mind you) means defining what you want rather than what your goal is, because sometimes these two are not the same thing–seekers of enlightenment didn’t necessarily want to be enlightened, some thought enlightenment would solve all their life problems, some wanted to be happy, some thought they could make money off of it, and so they were nowhere near being enlightened even with the right teachings because it didn’t satisfy that core desire they had that they were unable to acknowledge or recognize.

So if for example what you want is to have a youth center for the youths at risk in the favelas (shanty towns) of Rio de Janeiro that teaches soccer, yoga, capoeira, and jiujitsu in order to keep kids away from gang violence, drugs, and so on, you may need to expand your thinking to not simply be “raise money, pay for everything” but to make your dream a shared dream in which interested and qualified people can contribute their own piece to the puzzle of making that dream a reality. What you may perceive as being sufficient funding may end up being far below the mark when taxes, bureaucracies, incidentals, emergencies, volunteering, and logistics remind you that your plan needed a lot more consultation to make it more efficient and require less financial capital than you thought. An alternative way instead of making it your dream of a youth center is to recognize what you really want, which in this case could be wanting to give the youth a chance to have opportunities instead of being trapped in poverty and violence. So this might be better achieved through asking them what they want first, because the obstacle that stands in the way is the people you think you’re trying to help who don’t share the same dream as you.

If the goal and the process all start in your head, reality has a way of showing you whether the goal is attainable or not and if the process is the right one. You’ll know if it’s the right process if some of the people you’ve consulted have shared findings in their best practices from reporting, monitoring, and evaluation, and you’re able to replicate those best practices for your projects while also having regular observation and tweaking. You can’t necessarily set a timeline that says “2+2=5”, an old Soviet slogan that said “if we work hard enough, we can get five years of work done in four years!” which really doesn't translate to reality. Likewise, if you force an idea and a goal but ignore the people, science, history, and other general facts, you might end up in a situation where ideology dismisses reality and it leads to disaster, such as the case of Lysenkoism.

Lysenko was an incompetent agronomist who garnered a level of respect among Soviet leaders that was as misdirected as his scientific beliefs. For one thing, he didn’t really believe in genetics. Instead, Lysenko thought that seeds could be “educated” or trained to respond directly to the stimuli in their environment.

As head of Soviet agriculture, Lysenko spun impossible tales of how his pseudoscience could produce all manner of crops in Russia, and Soviet leaders looking to establish their nation as a leader in science supported him.

What ensued was a bizarre series of agricultural experiments that ultimately ended in disaster, famine, and spelled the deaths of as many as 7 million Russians.

Looking at the goal influencing Lysenko, it was a far cry from wanting to solve hunger–it was most definitely not his goal, his goal was to seek fame and recognition for “his” scientific ideologies. The process reflected this by using force of will instead of consulting with people in the respective farming environment and other experts in agriculture. Obviously, you aren’t out to cause a disaster on a grand scale like this, but this is what happens when you get trapped in the tunnel vision of the goal rather than finding the right process with the right guidance and support above and below.

Returning to our favela example, a youth-led project rather than an investor-led project would be more productive for both stakeholders and shareholders so that they can meet in the middle. Stakeholders, in this case, the youth can voice what they want, shareholders can discuss what they are willing and able to provide, including advisors who can explore effective use of resources to show the youth that not only is what they want attainable, but they can have more than that.

For example, some may just want a soccer field with grass instead of playing on the streets, but they may not realize that they can have actual trainers, facilities, and programs that already exist for talent searching for professional players. To turn this into a more social enterprise-oriented program, the idealist with the original dream could propose to both stakeholders and shareholders to not only offer soccer facilities and training, but also life skills training and mentoring. The difference here is rather than imposing, they are proposing and negotiating. This makes the process at the very beginning group-oriented, multi-tiered, and engaging for everyone, and in turn, the goal expands naturally as the successes and failures dictate how much the dream can scale.

When you have the right process, your goals will change and go from being unattainable to limitless possibilities.