Make life simple and predictable

The other day I was in a planning session regarding a new product line. We had decided to take on more work. It would result in more revenue for the company and help us continue to grow.

But with this opportunity came some changes. We couldn’t continue operating certain departments as we currently do.

Operational Impacts

We talked through what it meant operationally. We envisioned additional complexity for several important tasks. Because we do these tasks all the time, it meant the possibility for mistakes.

We had a choice to make. We could pass on the opportunity to keep things simple. Or we could figure out how to make it as simple as possible, while knowing the challenges it presented.

After we weighed the options, we choose to take on the new opportunity. We immediately went to work to figure out the best way to proceed.

How Can We Simplify the Process?

We decided that we did have options to simplify the processes. They weren’t obvious at first. They weren’t without any potential consequences. But they were options.

We worked through all the variations and did everything we could to simplify. This allowed us to bring it to staff in the easiest way possible.

One of the elements that came out of this was the fact that we currently have a step in the process that would be even more important in the future.

Lack of Consistency means more Confusion and Chaos

But we currently aren’t consistently following this step. So, we decided to get everyone together and explain that changes are coming. We explained that it is important that we follow this step. We made it clear that this isn’t an optional step. The value of following this step is going to be seen when we rollout the new product.

Jordan B Peterson explains the value of following the same process in his book, 12 Rules for Life - An Antidote to Chaos. He says, “Every system must play its role properly, and at exactly the right time, or noise and chaos ensue. It is for this reason that routine is so necessary. The acts of life we repeat every day need to be automatized. They must be turned into stable and reliable habits, so they lose their complexity and gain predictability and simplicity.”

In our business, we understand the value of following the same steps to gain predictability and simplicity. This was top-of-mind as we worked through the complexity that we acquired by taking on a new opportunity.

This is why we emphasized the need to follow the current process exactly. We knew that, in time, that step was going to be even more important. By starting now, we can make it automatized by the time we rollout the changes.

Routines and Habits in Life

But how many of us ignore this insight in our personal goals and ambitions? Sure, it makes sense in a business environment to have consistency. If we have multiple people doing the same tasks, we need to know that they are all following the best process.

That is why we have processes and procedures. We detail the steps necessary to complete the work and then train employees on the steps. This way we can be confident that whomever happens to do that work, it will result in proper completion.

But this doesn’t translate to our personal lives. We don’t have processes and procedures. But we do have routines and habits. I would argue that routines and habits are the same for us as processes and procedures are for businesses.

Automatize Life

Therefore, routines and habits fill an important role in life. They are there to help automatize life. By doing this we gain predictability and simplicity, as Peterson argues.

But the key for us to use this to improve and grow throughout life is to develop consistency. Consistency is what helps us develop a routine from otherwise random acts.

If we want to get healthy by eating nutritious meals, we have to be consistent. In fact, it is more important to have stable food options than to assume we will always grab something healthy. Through stability we can develop the right routines and habits around eating. As we develop these, we can work to have those consistent choices be healthy ones.

So, the first step is to develop the right routines and habits through consistency. We can always tweak the routine as we can tweak a process or procedure at work. But if we don’t have a solid routine, then we have to start over every time we want to change anything. We have to build everything from scratch.

Revolutionary Change vs. Evolutionary Change

This type of change (building from scratch) is referred to as revolutionary change. It means we blow everything up and start over. A better approach is evolutionary change. This is when we have a solid structure but continue to tweak and innovate to get an improved outcome.

Revolutionary change is necessary when there isn’t enough inherent value in what we are currently doing. Evolutionary change should be occurring in every other scenario. In other words, we should always be evolving to improve. We should only refer to revolutionary change as a last resort.

Evolutionary Change Leads to Predictability and Simplicity in Life

This is how we gain predictability and simplicity in life. Instead of refusing to change or improve until revolutionary change is required, we evolve.

We change. We adapt. We take on new opportunities. We address weaknesses. We leverage strengths. We continuously improve.

As we do that the need for revolutionary change diminishes. In its place we find increasing value. We find confidence. We gain predictability. We gain simplicity.