Seek Evidence Not Outcome
Level 4: Serious Player
Dear Future Guardian,
If you've been reading along lately you may have picked up on an underlying theme for me ...
I've become quite interested in the small, seemingly subtle perspective shifts we can adopt which have the ability to radically impact how we behave.
For example
In "The Impulse for Relief," what I ultimately proposed was not a solution to a problem, or changing how you feel or handle your emotions ...
But really rather cultivating a sense of awareness about a natural thing happening inside of you.
Because I know awareness is one of the most powerful tools we have.
Once you become aware that the Impulse for Relief is a natural force enacting up on your decision making, you become much more likely, when making decisions, to slow down and says "hang on, am I just seeking relief?"
That's all.
Little perspective shifts.
New lenses.
Tipping the dominoes in your favor.
And when it comes to getting the life that we want, of intentionally achieving the outcomes we set out to, we can use as many of those dominoes in our favor as possible.
Everything about goal achievement seems to always come back to certainty and uncertainty in one way or another - since our base human mindset is built with a drive to seek certainty.
This is why in the context of achieving the goals that we want, we use prompts1 like "The Rear View Mirror2" when we need a certain outcome. If we can look back on what we have already done, we can have - at the very least - a degree of certainty that we can do again what's been done before.
It's why we use bimodal risk mitigation strategies and thinking like "Explore-Exploit3," to recognize when we need a certain outcome, we look to exploit, and when we're able to leverage the benefits of uncertainty, we can explore.
Through all this,
It's when we strive for something new that we tend to mess ourselves up.
When we think "I'm going to get that thing" or "I'm going to make that happen."
Going for something new, and seeking certainty in that. (But, if you haven't done it before, it can't be certain)
One of the ways I like to handle this is to change my perspective on uncertainty itself4 ... rather than try to avoid it, welcome it as the good thing it is. Simmer in it. Allow the unknown to just be. And through that actually learn to seek out uncertainty willingly when I'm trying to make a change or find something new.
BUT
What if we could change our perspective not just to seek uncertainty when appropriate, but to change our approach within uncertainty ... to find the certainty that helps us move forward in the uncertain.
Ok,
Even I know that up there is probably a confusing jumble.
But the subtle shift is one which gives you an anchor of certainty while exploring something new.
I'll explain.
But first ...
Finite and Infinite Games
I'm obviously on a roll with these concepts lately because I keep circling back to this one as well.
After all,
If you can recognize the game you're playing is infinite (life), you can happily change your entire perspective from trying to win, to just trying NOT to lose.
Another aspect of mastering control and perspective on finite and infinite games is understanding that finite games can fit within infinite games but not the other way around ...
The game of life is in an infinite game, and in that game of life you can play a game of basketball.
BUT
Within a game of basketball, you cannot stop the game in order to live out an entire life - an infinite game.
Sounds silly.
Is silly.
Knowing this ... you can can actually better leverage your finite games if you understand the infinite game it's a part of.
A professional basketball player may be playing finite games every time they step on the court, but those finite games exist within the infinite game of their career. So how they treat themselves and perform within the finite games is strategically managed within the context of the infinite game of their career and life.
Here's where I'm going with this ...
Seeking success in life, trying to go for a particular outcome, is finite game behavior in an infinite game. (Because you are seeking a specific outcome - defined ending = finite)
When you are going for something new it is uncertain.
Uncertainty is an infinite game dynamic.
So if we are approaching an infinite game dynamic (uncertainty) with a finite game perspective (achieving a specific outcome), we're likely to run into problems.
Or to put it another way,
When you step into the uncertain expecting, or looking for a certain outcome, you gonna be disappointed. (Or confused, or lost, or frustrated, etc)
What if instead, we welcome the infinite game dynamic (uncertainty), and then look for finite games (certainty) within, which only add to the infinite game we're playing?
They'd have to be separate from the infinite game, in a way where losing the finite game had no negative impact on the infinite, and where winning contributed to our long term goal.
I don't know if I can make it make more sense without getting right into it ...
Evidence vs Success
Yea, let's try to make this concrete.
Instead of searching for, thinking about, and measuring what you are doing by the success you seek ... (treating an infinite game like a finite one)
Search for, think about, and measure everything you do based on evidence of whether or not you will get there. (playing finite games within the infinite)
You don't need to get there right now, you just need data which says whether the step you just took is taking you in the right direction, and you want to be more and more informed with each step that you are heading there.
That's really all it is.
You might look at this as another way to think about microstepping5, or taking the next best step6, or letting go7 of the goal and focusing on the process8 ...
You aren't seeking success,
You are seeking evidence that you can get there.
You are seeking evidence to support your ability to make choices better.
The outcome is ultimately out of your hands,
But the choices you make to take yourself TO the outcome are NOT out of your hands, and the more data you have to add to your decision making, the better you are going to be making those decisions.
Not only does this lift the burden of creating the outcome, but actually mitigates downside by providing data which can keep you from harm, AND provides you upside by providing data which better guides you toward what you want.
It's not creating outcomes, it's data gathering.
On an Arena call a couple months ago, we touched on this subject.
The context of the conversation was around doubt and overwhelm, human mentalities, and how to handle yourself knowing that the human mindset will always question whether you’re going to achieve what you want or believe you can achieve.
Among other things, this got into the perspective of looking for evidence, rather than pay attention to the outcome.
Even though the conversation stems from one surrounding business goals, we can also stand back across the board and change our entire perspective of what we are doing, to NOT be about achieving anything, but rather seeking evidence:
I'm going to start this email marketing strategy - not to get more sales, but because I'm looking for evidence of how to make it happen the way I want to.
I'm going to do this video ad campaign - not to get results, but to find the evidence that video ads might ultimately get me where I want to go.
I'm going to start this new workout routine - not to get fit, but to find the evidence that this workout routine is going to feel good, and be something I can consistently do.
I'm going to start dating this person - not to get married, but to find the evidence that this person is the right person for me.
You see.
It fits into everything.
It takes all the burden of needing to create an outcome out of our hands.
It makes us all scientists of ourselves.
It also forces us to think consciously about what we really want. Because the evidence we look for is only evidence and only relevant in the context of what it is we are seeking.
It allow us to leverage the strengths of finite games (end point, goal is to score and finish), in a way that helps us grow and develop our infinite game (life, ongoing, ever evolving).
We don't need to make anything happen,
We just need to take action and observe what happens from that action (rinse and repeat).
(If you want a structure for that, check out The Arena)
Be Useful. Be Present. Love the Journey.
Joseph Robertson, CMO The Guardian Academy
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Love the frame that finite and infinite games are not necessarily either/or propositions. Each can exist or coexist with or within the other. Brilliant!