I’ve lived a process driven life my entire personal adult life. I get up to an alarm clock (process). I let the dogs out (process). I make coffee (process). I look at my calendar, my to-do list, and arrange my day (process). The scary part is that I’m always looking for ways to be more efficient at all my daily tasks. How can I do those tasks with a high degree of quality, in less time and effort?
Believe it or not, we all deal with and practice processes every day. It may be routine, like waking up to an alarm clock, brushing your teeth, or the steps taken to start your car. Others may be out of life’s necessity, like taking medications. But we all do it. Every single day.
In my life, I’ve encountered people that embrace process and others that steer away from it as far as possible. Some, like me, are always thinking in processes, with a flowchart permanently etched in their brains. Others couldn’t care less. The interesting thing is that they both serve a purpose and need each other. In my life, I’ve found that one typically has the great ideas, while the other constructs the method for putting the ideas into reality. We need both and they need to work together.
Consider which type of person you are. You may have both qualities, but which is dominant? Now, look at those around you and see if you can determine where they fit. In my world, I’m the process person while my wife is not. She comes up with the greatest of ideas, while I come up with how they can or can’t be accomplished. It’s a great working-together relationship that comes up with some interesting solutions and concepts, but from time to time, we need to step back and walk in the other’s shoes to fully understand where they’re coming from.
I encourage you to look at your everyday life a little differently. You may need to break out of your process or not-process mold from time to time and attempt to see how others look at things. Doing so makes life for you and them so much better.
