Comments on: Focus on the Desired Outcome, Not on the Process

By: The Power of Negative Thinking : A Politically Incorrect Entrepreneur

The Power of Negative Thinking : A Politically Incorrect Entrepreneur — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:19:14 +0000

[...] I owe much of this philosophy, believe it or not, to Dale Carnegie. In his book How To Stop Worrying And Start Living, he said if you imagine the worst possible outcome to a situation often you will see it really just is not that bad. It might not be desirable, but it is usually something from which you can recover. I went one step further and decided to assume that the worst case would happen and plan for it. By doing this, I removed it’s power over me and the fear of being tied to the outcome. [...]

By: Kelsey

Kelsey — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 05:39:41 +0000

I agree. It’s always important to keep our eyes on the goal. However, the process must not be completely disregarded as well, just that we must be open to being flexible and not lose sight of our aspirations as we go along.

By: emily

emily — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 02:41:43 +0000

I totally agree that a lot of the time we get too wrapped up in what we are doing and take our eyes off the prize. Definitely a mistake. Nothing ever goes exacty according to plan, and every decision we make along the way should get us closer to the ultimate goal. Nice post.

By: Hugh

Hugh — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:56:31 +0000

@Roger- Improvise, Adapt and Overcome. Those 4 words are worth the cost of admission to that movie. My other favorite quote from that one (not biz related, I just like it) is when we was reviewing his new troops and he said “The Marines are looking for a few good me, Unfortunately, you ain’t it.”

@Jon- I like it!

@Baseball (I feel like Dear Abbey!)- I am familiar with the book and agree with the loop, as far as it goes. The Loop must have feedback built in, though, or you could be in the unenviable position of making great time through the maze, only to find out they have moved your cheese.

By: Baseball Investor

Baseball Investor — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 19:36:05 +0000

i came across a great biography about Col. Boyd called: The fighter pilot who changed the art of war. in the book he developed method called an OODA loop.
– observe.
– orient.
– decide.
– act.

just wondering if you’ve heard of this. anyway, he’s the guy who first patented that move they copied in Top Gun where the fighter pilot comes to near stop and the other plane goes flying bye.
great book.

By: jon

jon — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:01:15 +0000

good words of wisdom, but i would add one clarification, which is don’t focus on the goal in the middle of the process. in other words, it should go something like this:

1) identify goal
2) develop plan towards said goal
3) follow through with plan, but at this point you should be focused on the plan and not the goal.
4) if results are not seen, revise plan and repeat step 3.

think about a balance beam. you know and focus on your goal before you get on the beam. while you’re on it, you stick to the plan, don’t worry about where you’re going and just take it one step at a time.

at least that’s the way i see it .

By: Roger Anderson

Roger Anderson — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:18:50 +0000

Hugh,
I think that you are correct to say that we are often to fixed on following a predetermined route. I always think of Clint Eastwood where he said (in a movie where he was a marine Gunny Sargent)- adapt, improvise, overcome. We should have a plan and it is important that we try to follow it, but as you say we need to get to the goal which in most cases is what is more important.
At times the road less taken makes all the difference.