Humans naturally break goals down into bite-sized steps, and we often fail miserably.
Ok, let’s go ahead and table the nature/nurture argument with the acknowledgement that, although it is a worthwhile bottle shop debate, it is also momentarily superfluous.
To the point, we have all been in the situation of sitting down for dinner only to realize we are missing something, say a fork.
So we get up, walk to the kitchen, and experience that dreaded moment of: “…um, what was it that I needed?” We guess, returning with a glass of water only to remember the original purpose of the exercise as soon as we sit down.
So what happened?
You identified a need and, without recognizing it, established a series of steps that you were to follow to accomplish that need. This focus not only makes the goal achievable through actionable steps, but also causes a cognitive separation between what you are doing and what you are accomplishing. As a result of this separation, you lost sight of what you wanted to achieve. You still produced results, but you did not succeed in your mission, and ultimately you have to do the work over again.
So what is the ‘best’ outcome? If you are concerned with not sitting longer than 5-10 minutes at a stretch, you may have accomplished ‘the best’ in the scenario above, but otherwise it likely would have been returning with both the fork and a glass of water. You would have met your goal, identified an efficiency, and executed with the least amount of additional effort required.
In your work, are you keeping sight of your goals, or are you getting lost in your steps?
-David
David Whitcher 