Letting Go Of Outcomes

Whenever my children used to ask me what I would like for my birthday or Christmas I would habitually reply “world peace”. This small exchange became something of a ritual in our household (oh the fun we had!!). I think I made this request for over ten years, and yet there were no signs of world peace on the horizon, or even a move in that general direction. It became clear to me that it may take a little more than a request to my children for this goal to be achieved…

I was required to write a report for a client a while ago. The goal and reason for the work was clear, the timescales known. And yet it did not run smoothly. I broke the goal down into bite-sized chunks, created a milestone plan, engaged the support of two colleagues for the review and formatting. And all the while I was moving no further forward with the actual task. In the end the goal become a burden and I needed rescuing by my colleagues…

Once my boss proposed a revenue target for the final quarter of our financial year, in order to continue the company’s growth curve. So the target and purpose was clear, but how to go about it? I remember scratching my head and looking around the room for inspiration. It was quiet, which is not unusual as we were reflective bunch, and the moment passed. We moved on to the next topic. Over the following weeks there was very little conversation about this challenge and I suppose I sort of gave up. At our next meeting a month later our revenue projections had worsened slightly and the prospect of hitting our revenue target now seemed impossible. My boss registered his disappointment and we all moved on…

I was reflecting on these three experiences and wondered about how targets work in some of our client organisations. I work with lots of clients who are looking to grow revenue, reduce cost, increase engagement, improve productivity. Too often the thinking behind this extends no further than (a) why it is important and (b) what should the measure of success be. If we are lucky we might get (c) an action plan with milestones and a chart showing how the objective will be achieved over time.

I had been teaching a professional cricketer, let’s call him John, how to develop a mindfulness meditation practice. Like many people from that particular sport John was interested in growing his resilience and reducing his anxiety, and was curious about the potential of mindfulness. After our session together we sat outside on the boundary of his cricket stadium and he told me that our work together had reminded him of the method he used in his bowling.

John’s bowling coach had taught him a set of processes for his bowling that included letting go of any interest in, or attachment to, the outcome of his bowling. Instead John was asked to focus his full attention on three very specific elements of his bowling action (the way his front foot landed at the point of delivery, the height and angle of his delivery arm as it came by his head and the flexing in his body as he landed after having bowled). John invested all his practice, his attention and his desire in these three processes. His mantra was that if “I get these three things right then nothing else matters”. He had given up on what happened to the ball from then on as it was out of his control.

John operates in an environment where his success is defined almost entirely by his bowling figures; it is a numbers world. So he was surprised to find that the moment he was able to let go of worrying about the outcome of his delivery, or what the batsman did, or what the impact was on his figures, his bowling actually improved. By maintaining his intention on improvements to three core processes, all of which he was in control of, and without a judgmental narrative, he was able to improve his technique; his improved technique delivered better bowling figures (that now seemed less important)

In the telling of this story to me, John was able to access some insight; if he could treat his life like his bowling he might be a happier and healthier person.

I think the reason I remembered this story when I was reflecting on our revenue challenge was that it was not enough for me to buy into a desired outcome, and it was not even enough to break down that outcome into meaningful chunks. I would have benefited from some micro-attention on the processes involved and a letting go of the desired outcome. How much more potent could I be if I treated these aspects of my working life like John treated his bowling?