The destination influences the journey

He wears a suit and a tie, business shoes and sometimes dons a gown and a wig. 

I dress a little more comfortably so I can nip up step ladders, roll things along the floor and dance to the playlist. 

Despite appearances, our work worlds do overlap. 

My partner and I are both self-employed, we both get briefed and we both care about results.  

It's fair to say that ‘the result’ matters a bit more in his job. Bail means freedom (often temporary), not guilty is gold. 

Results in my work are meaningful and significant – better informed decisions, policies co-designed by the people affected, more connected teams. On any measure, however, they pale by comparison with the difference between liberty and incarceration. 

So, I cringe a bit when I hear cliches like, ‘it’s all about the journey, not the destination’. I think that cliché should stay where it belongs – on holidays. I know my clients would agree . 

Where we are headed in a workshop is as important as why we are there and what we'll do to get to our destination. That's why it helps to talk about outcomes as a noun.  

Outcomes from my recent workshops have included a list of priorities, a board decision and a set of ideas to present to the transport team in a local council. 

Outcome (‘where we are headed’) comes before process (‘what we’ll do to get there’) when I’m designing workshops.  

I ask why this workshop, who is coming and where they need to land, long before I touch what we'll actually do together on the day. Go straight to the process and you’ll end up with a beautiful experience that leads nowhere. 

What we'll do to get there – the process – though carefully designed, is almost always unpredictable. Because the only thing that's predictable about any group of people is its unpredictability. A clear destination keeps us on track on this messy journey.  

Courts can be unpredictable too. He doesn't always get an immediate result. Cases are often delayed – 'adjourned' is, I believe, the correct term. 

At our dinner table, our daily debrief goes something like this: 

Me: ‘Good day?  

Him: Good result.' 

Him: 'Good day?  

Me: Good result and good process.' 

Have you ever left a workshop without getting a result? What impact did that have? 

One from the lockdown archives. Forgive any triggering!

Thanks for reading this far!

Stay (fl)awesome!