During the past couple months, 25Seven has been fairly quiet, to say the least. I have lots of reasons—as always. Fortunately, the primary reason for this radio silence is a positive one; recently I’ve been focused on another blog. That blog just went live a couple days ago—although I’ve been posting there since September. The blog is called the Seven Cycles Collaborative.
A few people have already been checking out the CoLab; we’ve received a lot of interest and enthusiasm about the Collaborative project, and some confusion about what we’re hoping to accomplish.
Outcome: Product or Process?
As with so many projects on which I participate, the product is rarely the only important focus. Often times, as is the case with the Seven Collaborative, the process is the point. The product’s primary purpose is to bring focus to the process, and to get our employees excited about the process; tactile items are often more fun and engaging than process charts and boring conversations with me. And as a great storyteller once said:
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” - Ursula LeGuin
True that.
The Collaborative’s focus on the process as our primary measure of success has been confusing for some. Spectator confusion is probably caused by a cursory glance at the CoLab blog, or from reading just one or two journal entries. Unfortunately, it’s a bit difficult to get a complete picture of the Collaborative’s mission by a brief perusal because the project is large—probably too large, moving fast, and we’re making a couple posts a day recently—weekdays at least. Because of all this, I think it’s easy to lose sight of the overall project purpose. I’m here to try and explain: