Your final product is a process full of temporary things
There’s a bunch of buildings being built near my kid’s school and we get to see the progress every day. They’re going up quickly and they’ll surely be great once finished. His favorite parts are the large tower crane and the construction elevator. I can’t blame him.
He asked the other day how tower cranes got to the sites. He knew that they were too big to just drive there on their own. I told him that the tower crane — and the construction elevator — were built on the site to help the workers build the building.
He was silent — which doesn’t happen a lot — so I knew he was deep in thought. I stayed quiet and gave him time to ponder.
After a few minutes. I told him that part of the process of building a building was to build the stuff to help build the building. The tower crane and construction elevator weren’t part of the finished product, but those pieces needed to be built so the actual building could be built.
Then, when it’s time, the elevator and tower crane are taken apart and removed.
“Daddy, that sounds like a lot of work.”
Yes. Yes, it does.
Assess. Get in. Do your thing. Exit. Repeat.
Later in that evening, I was at a Tae Kwon Do class where we learned about the three phases of sparring an opponent:
- Phase 3) Keep your space, move around, look for a way in.
- Phase 2) Get one foot in the fighting zone, throw a few fakes to get a reaction. Move back out to Phase 3 if needed, otherwise…
- Phase 1) You’re in it now. Punch, punch, kick. Do something and do it well.
- Then, exit the zone a different direction then how you entered.
- Repeat.
You can’t enter into Phase 1 directly from Phase 3. Skipping Phase 2 only means that you’ll probably get kicked pretty good on your way in.
Phase 2 is a key part of the overall process because it sets you up for success to have a good Phase 1.
Sometime, the most important piece of the process is meant to be temporary
Setting up the infrastructure to ensure a successful process is not only super important, but also super difficult. Not only can it be physically difficult (like I am sure setting up a 100+ foot tower crane or a full construction elevator are), but also difficult in the sense that it can be a little abstract.
And after all the thinking and work needed to build that infrastructure, then the actual work begins.
Then, when you’re finished with the benefits of the infrastructure, you have to take it all down.
And then, you repeat as needed.
Seems crazy. Maybe it is, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not the best way.
Phase 2 can tell you everything you need to know.
A lot of us spend a lot of time out in Phase 3. Assessing. Assessing. Making ourselves believe like we’re looking to get into Phase 2 but we’re not really. Assessing…more assessing.
Phase 1 is admittedly where the action is. Where you do what you came here to do.
But the importance you place on Phase 2 directly impacts your success in Phase 1. You can’t live in any of the phases too long, but if you’re able to stay comfortable after you assess and before you do work, then Phase 2 will be a vital and advantageous position to be in — for the temporary time you are there.
As I continue to build from scratch a new brand for musicians, I know what it feels like to jump from Phase 1 to Phase 3 because I’ve gotten kicked. I’ve seen that it’s hard to build a skyscraper when you haven’t built the infrastructure yet.
Maybe that infrastructure is mentors. Or a strong business plan. Or funding. Maybe it’s relationships with vendors. Perhaps it’s even patience with yourself since you can’t build anything without that (see what I mean by abstract?).
Take the time to only trust the process, but to first respect it. Then, be comfortable with it because it’s usually something you do more than once. The more you go in, the more you’ll need to tear down, exit, and start all over. You can’t stay in any of the phases for too long.
Building something takes time, so take the time to build the things that will help you build it.
#bewhatyoumake
