We Are Long on Outputs and Short on Inputs

Friends, 
 
Ok. This week you might not like me. Or, at least, not the message. Like truth itself, it tends to tell us something we don't want to hear. We all walk around this world with our own biases, our own experiences, and our particular lenses through which we observe the world. All of this is amplified by the people we spend the most time with (who we have carefully selected over time) and the media channels we consume the most (which resonates most with our views). It's our world, and we created it. But it doesn't make it "true" nor the only worldview there is. It's just ours. And when we hear something different and dissonant from that version, it often makes us uncomfortable. Or worse, we reject it as "false". 

One aspect of our public conversation that I believe contributes to a distortion (or, at least a confusion) of truth and our perceived reality is outputs vs inputs. Somehow, we all prefer to talk about the outputs. Money is a popular one. Fame is another. Of course, victories, MVPs, great food, friendships, and love are other important outputs in life. But for some reason, we are not as infatuated with the inputs. They didn’t materialize out of thin air. What created all those outputs? All our debates, protests, political division, and "stories" are almost entirely about outputs. But why is it that we don't talk as much about inputs? 

First, let's go a bit deeper into moral philosophy (thanks to Dov Seidman for always helping me point to philosophy as the place for where to look for wisdom), and try to understand this from a more "objective" point of view. We can remind ourselves of Aristotle who correctly (at least, in my view) concluded that:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

2000 years and 6,000 miles later, we also find John Rawls writing in California about his theory of Original Position in his Theory Of Justice where he speaks to the famous concept of "Veil of Ignorance". Without going too deep, I find the idea attractive and I think of it this way: we should all commit to rules in society WITHOUT knowing how those rules would affect the positions we are in. Hence the "veil of ignorance". In other words, focus on the input, rather than the output. To some extent, this is what athletes do every day. They know what the rules are. They commit to years of practice and hard work, and some succeed. Others won't. And occasionally, in the interest of the sustained popularity of their sport, certain leagues even self-impose constraints to make sure all teams can be competitive over time (i.e. salary caps, drafting systems, etc). As usual, there is something to be learned from the world of sports. 

That leads me to my second point: process. To me, simply put, outputs are a function of inputs and processes. Let me double-click on process first. 

A process is a set of defined steps we can commit to that will, most likely, lead us towards where we want to go. There are processes for just about everything we can think of. There is a process for doing science. There is a process for solving most math problems, strengthening your muscles, improving your flexibility, losing weight, for learning, etc. You name it, and you can find, at least best practices, that would enhance your chance of a successful outcome. But yet, we don't seem as interested in the process as we are in the outputs. I think that is a mistake. It sends our human energy to a place of "I want to HAVE", instead of a place of "I want to DO". It does  us no good to think in abstractions when it comes to our goals.

In the podcast linked to below with Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin quotes the sculptor Elizabeth King who once said: 

“Process saves us from the poverty of our intentions.”

For me, this speaks to the fact that our "wants" are so strong that they actually distract us from the attention our actions need. Any golfer out there knows that wanting a low score is a sure way of getting a high score. Or any parent knows for sure that dreaming about your kids getting into a certain college or developing a particular trait or skill won't help them get there. Only dedication, repetition, and time will. 

This brings me to inputs. As human beings, our primary input in any given process is time. Sure, some people have more money and can buy other people's time to advance their chances. But still, it often comes down to time. It’s the grand equalizer. In the thousands of years preceding our modern times, time was more about physical energy – hours of time working the fields, walking between places, or pushing the boulder up the hill. In our current world, time encompasses a bit more than the physical, reflecting an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual form of energy.

Practice makes perfect, they do say. And it happens to be true. You can read the great short piece below from the Character Lab on “Deliberate Practice”, which is a phrase coined by the Swedish Psychology Professor Anders Ericsson who recently passed away. To me, Deliberate Practice is a combination of Process and Practice. When someone tells you to work smarter, not just harder, they are basically telling you to be more deliberate in your practice.

Practice more, work harder....these are the things some people don't like to hear. But there is really only one way to improve our lot in life. Work at it. It won't come naturally. It won't come automatically. Yes, some are privileged in ways that give them an advantage, for sure. I certainly count myself as among the lucky ones. For one, I was born in Sweden. I had loving, supportive, and incredible parents. I had access to a good education. In addition, I won a genetic lottery, one that my sister sadly lost. And while that loss created a scar on my soul I do not expect to overcome, it obviously means I survived – for now. And it has always motivated me to practice harder, and thereby honor my sister Erica by making sure I did my best in whatever process I attempted to contribute to. In the face of uncertainty, you can find power by focusing on what is in your control.

Some believe that our current inequalities are making it impossible for too many people to realize their dreams. I have written about this primarily here. It's really an important discussion. But regardless of your view, I would encourage all of us to approach the conversation about equal opportunity more from an "inputs and process" perspective than from an "outputs" perspective – hence, the veil of ignorance argument. If we can agree that process and practice matters, we can then redesign the structures of our society based on the notion that everybody devoting their time and energy towards practice should, over time, be rewarded with more opportunities than people who don't. 

Here are some articles that inspired me this week, particularly around practice and process (as well as some others):

• Tim Ferriss interview with Seth Godin. Good discussions around practice and process. Seth’s newest book is called Practice.

• The Character Lab had a great piece on practice honoring Professor Anders Ericsson, who recently passed away (fellow Swedish Psychologist who did the original research behind the idea of Deliberate Practice aka 10,000 hours.)

• Found this last week's Op-Ed by David Brooks in NYT particularly relevant to the entire idea behind this newsletter. Some very useful approaches to have deeper, more meaningful, and "elevated" conversations. It starts with our desire to listen and understand. Love the metaphor of "midwife" in a conversation. The goal isn't for YOU to deliver a baby. It's to help another person birth whatever ideas they harbor.

• Most of you know that my own purpose is to help capitalism be more of a force for good. I believe it has been. I believe it still is. But I also believe it can be even more powerful if we let it and if we made investment decisions with both that intention as well as a longer time frame. Here is a great series of articles McKinsey just published with cover the pros and cons, and I believe is really well summarized for anyone who is interested. Here is another shorter one in Fortune on basically the same topic.

• I will end one of my favorite inspirations when it comes to the "asymptotic ethic of the pursuit of perfection". Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a great story of the journey towards making the world's best sushi. A perfect combination of thousands of hours and deliberate practice.

That's a wrap for this week. Fall in love with verbs rather than adjectives. Adjectives typically signify outputs. Verbs signify inputs. Verbs are things we do. Adjectives are things we want. 

What if we had a vibrant, productive, and constructive debate on what processes and practices led to the most success? It's the difference between a "pre-distribution" of opportunities vs a re-distribution of outputs. Just a thought! 

Until next time!