Jess Rowe and Miriam Payne made history by rowing across the Pacific Ocean. When they decided to embark on this ambitious voyage, they may have had no idea how they were going to make this journey a reality. How could they get a boat that would carry them across? How much food and water would they need to need to bring along? How could they finance the trip? And how would they cope with setbacks, such as the broken rudder on their first attempt? If they would have dived into these questions too early, they might have abandoned their plan.
As we approach the end of the year, you may focus on plans for the coming year. Whenever we make plans, whether it is for our personal life, business, or for research, we need to figure what we want to do and how we will give shape to our plans. What? and how? are essential questions, but it is important that we answer these questions on the right order.
Figuring out what we want to do gives direction, it tells us where to go. The how determines the way in which we move in that direction. It is important to determine the what first and then focus on the how. The question what we want to do is the primary question that should drive how we are going to do this. What is the point of figuring out how we are going to do something if we don’t know what we want to do?
Perhaps surprisingly, we often focus on the how first. Sometimes it is easier to think of specific actions we can take than to fathom what our deepest desire is. Pondering the what requires us to make a commitment, and we may be reluctant to commit. Of course, we want to be realistic and assure ourselves that our plans are doable. Such a sense of realism can be healthy, but focus on the how can stifle our ambitions and prevent us on doing what we really want to do. Considering the how too early can be a showstopper!
The reality is also that when we embark on something new, we often don’t know how we are going to do what we have set out to do. That is okay because the commitment to do something new activates our creativity, it opens conversations with others that may help us, and it gives us a focus that we did not have before. Not knowing how to move forward feels unsettling, but this is where we need to muster the trust to move forward anyhow and figure out the how along the way.
Starting with the how instead of the what can be stifling at an individual and collective level. At the individual level the how can prevent us to move forward because initially we simply may not know how to move forward. What sometimes happens in groups is that the conversation focuses on what actions to take—the how—without having clarity on what we actually want to achieve. As a result, the conversation lacks focus and tends to get bogged down in detail while losing sight of the big picture. Those of you who have been in faculty meetings may recognize this behavior.
So as you are about to enter a new year, focus on what you want to do and trust that you will discover later how you are going to do this. Are you willing to muster that trust? Few of us row across the Pacific, but there are many other goals that are worthwhile to pursue.