Trust the process

(written in 2011)

I would like to elaborate in this post on my previous entry about emerging markets and their ability to deal with ambiguity. On reflection, the tone of that article sounds to me little too carefree. It is not meant to be entirely so. While I still believe that it is very important to have some hubris it is also essential to possess a plan, a road map for where we are going.

Last year, during my presidency of AIESEC UK, myself and my team were often presented with lot of ambiguity regarding the future. We could not have answers to all the questions we had, all the information we wanted and we could not always anticipate what exactly is going to happen. Relying in such situations purely on hubris would equal to a suicide but we had to be moving on as well. Designing a process of putting together the missing pieces and trusting it subsequently is what we would do on such occasions.

It is OK not to know exactly what is going to happen in the future and to not know how we are going to react to it as long as three things are in place. Firstly we need to be crystal clear about what we are trying to achieve. What does a 'mission accomplished' look like. Secondly, we need to be all on the same page with what the next several immediate steps are. And finally, we need to have a process in place to establish what else we need to do to achieve our goal. This can be a call with an external consultant or a mentor, interviews with key stakeholders or appointing a steering team and consulting it regularly.

At any point all these three conditions have to be fulfilled and if they are, you, your team or your organisation should have the necessary confidence to trust the process and to move ahead. And that is all the hubris one should need.