There's some things that are beyond our control. Macroeconomic changes impact businesses, accidents happen, other people make decisions that impact ourselves. All those things may lead to negative outcomes. We may not achieve a certain goal, or get behind schedule on a project.

The question that will be asked then is: "Why did this happen?" What should be asked however is: "Could we have done anything different to avoid the outcome?"

Goals help us focus our efforts and channel our energy. They're important to guide us in what we do. However, goals can't be controlled. What you can control is the process of working towards a goal. Being aware of that and designing activities to control the process, will help in many ways.

For one, it helps identifying risks to achieve the goal. Again, some are out of our control. But getting a decent understanding of what could happen helps to manage this uncertainty. There is no problem with bad news, but there shouldn't be any surprises.

Also, this mindset helps identify the reasons for failure ex-post. This understanding allows us to take the right lessons for the next time. Learning from our failures for the future is positive in two ways: it keeps us humble and accountable.

Lastly, no one wants to fail and doing so always results in losing a bit of confidence. But knowing that we did everything we can to control the process, makes failure easier to accept.

In the manufacturing world, statistical process control helps companies to improve the quality of their products and reduce waste. In our own lives, controlling the processes will improve the outcomes of our efforts and help avoid disappointment.

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Please share your comments and inputs (via comment function, twitter, e-mail, etc.). In my short write-ups I address topics that I am particularly interested in because they align with my values and beliefs. As such, they are always a reflection of my ideas, thoughts, and opinions. The only thing I am positive in that regard is that I do not have all the perspectives, all the knowledge, or all the facts - help me be better tomorrow.