The process

I haven’t watched the Saban documentary yet, but it’s been on my list when I have some free time. I heard it’s an amazing watch and there’s a lot to learn from the greatest coach of all time.

One part that I saw on social media that I’m excited to watch is when Nick Saban talks about his process and why that is the most important thing rather than results. He was once 3 holes from finishing at Augusta, and his caddy told him that he could bogey every hole from here on out and shoot under 80. You can probably guess what happened after that.

Saban uses that example to emphasize that it’s always about the process and what you can control. In sports, you can do everything right and still lose the game. Sometimes another team is simply better. But more times than not, if you stick to the process and execute correctly, that’ll produce the result you want. See Saban’s national championship records.

One of the more frustrating parts about my job is similar to sports, you can work your ass off and do everything right, but something just doesn’t pan out the way you want it to. Sometimes the numbers just don’t line. Or timing. Or the broader market just impacted you.

In business just like in sports, results matter of course. But how you get to a result is by focusing on the process, not the other way around.