Trust the Process

I've used that phrase for years, stole it from my mentor at PricewaterhouseCoopers.  But what does it mean when you tell someone to trust the process?  I think it means that you have confidence that the efforts underway are organized in such a way that you do not need to supervise them closely.  In other words, the 'process' guarantees an acceptable outcome.

But what does it mean in practical terms?  For a project it generally means that the people responsible for completing the deliverables have the following attributes:

First, they have subject matter and skill competence as well as the necessary tools to complete the tasks at hand.

Second, they must have an understanding of the overall objective and the problem that it seeks to solve so they know what they are trying to do and can keep oriented towards it.

Finally, they understand the overall strategy or way the sponsors want have the problem solved such that if things don't go as planned they will still be able to direct the effort in a manner congruent with its sponsor's purpose.

It's this combination of competence, comprehension and congruence that allows us to 'trust the process' on complex tasks that we have no hope of personally supervising.  Yes, detailed work plans and milestones are necessary and very nice to have, but if the key players lack any of the big Cs, all the project management in the world can't save a project.  Which means the sponsors can't 'trust the process'.

Which brings us to that great big project in the sky called our Federal Government.  Right now the sponsors (aka the people) do not trust the process.  They do not believe that those in power have the expertise and skills to get the job done.  They question whether leadership even understands the problem (access or cost in healthcare?  mainstreaming illegals or secure borders?  too much spending or too few taxes?).  And they certainly don't believe in the strategies current leadership are pursuing to achieve results.

So what happens when the sponsor loses faith in the process?  They change the leadership.