Vitruvian Discipline #56 "Respect the Process"

The year was 2000. At that time no one had ever heard for Bob Bowman. He was a swim coach who was serving in a part-time role until his dream coaching job came available. He had one swimmer he was working with in particular. It was a 15 year-old phenomenon Bob made great efforts to keep the student beyond public notice. He didn’t want his pupil distracted by all the attention he knew would one day follow.

The year was 2000 and Bowman’s pupil had just qualified for the Sydney Olympics. Soon after Bowman and the swimmer pulled up to a red white and blue banner that read, “Congratulations.” Bob immediately tore it down.

Debbie Phelps was furious. She chided Bowman asking him if he realized what her son had just done.

Bowman’s response, “Debbie, this is like step number 180in a 10,000-step process…”

The relationship between Michael Phelps and his Uber-disciplined coach is now legendary. The two of them exhibited almost super-human discipline en route to Michael Phelps becoming the most decorated Olympian and possibly the greatest athlete to ever live. However, it’s worth noting it was being disciplined to stick with the process that mattered most. The outcomes were measured by 28 Olympic medals of which 23 were gold. The inputs were years and years, stroke after stroke, day after day, Christmas Day after Christmas Day of training.

Nick Saban is famous for “the process.” It’s focusing on the next 7 seconds without even considering the next 7 minutes. It’s breaking goals, tasks, responsibilities, problems down into very small chunks and having laser focused discipline to achieve the task at hand.

Whatever your job, stick to the process. Be laser focused on the lead inputs. Don’t take your eye off the ball. The small tiny seemingly insignificant instances add up to big big things.

You rule!