Ablest Navigators

Things are really starting to accelerate within our business. We’re currently raising capital from private investors and, as they say, the phone is ringing off the hook. That’s a good thing.

I had a conversation today about directions and the myriad of small, day to day decisions that we all make, that eventually, cumulatively shape our lives, our businesses, our relationships and our futures. There are times when those decisions, whether they be large or small, all seem daunting. Sometimes it’s due to the sheer volume of decisions to be made. Other times it’s because the decisions are taking us out of our comfort zone. And then there are times when we feel we cannot make the decisions ourselves, but must seek the counsel of others.

There are those that believe that whatever decision you make, whatever path you choose, you’ve made the correct decision. These folks aren’t simply blue-sky optimists. Rather, they believe that whatever you choose, you chose it for a reason. That choice was the very best choice for you at that very moment. In a way, they’re simply expressing belief in the ability of everyone to make wise decisions in the moment. However, more deeply, they’re eliminating the second guessing that many of us face on a daily basis. Make your decision. Trust that it is the very best choice for you right now, in the moment. And then move on.

Henry Mintzberg of McGill University has posited the concept of “emergent strategies” within organizations. His theory states, more or less (since it’s been a while since I’ve read these research papers), that while most companies engage in grandiose planning initiatives on a periodic basis (e.g. annually, every five years, etc.), these massive planning retreats do not really drive strategy. In fact, Mintzberg asserts, strategy within most organizations is driven by thousands of small, seemingly insignificant daily decisions taken by many different participants within the corporate structure. In short, strategies are not created, they emerge.

Pulling all of this back to smaller organizations, such as ours (or even to our relationships, our lives, etc.), how much benefit (i.e. how much effective strategy) comes from overt, focused efforts to plan our futures? And how much simply emerges from the myriad day-to-day decisions that are made in the moment? And further, if we trust that each of these day-to-day decisions is absolutely correct for all involved at that point in time, are emergent strategies, by definition, perfect?

Or, conversely, is it a perfect strategy to trust one’s day-to-day decisions and simply move on?

It’s an important topic, this idea of driving in particular directions and how those directions are chosen, as is highlighted by 18th century English historian and Member of Parliament, Edward Gibbon. “The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.”