The Illusion of Control

What would happen if we really accepted the fact that control is an illusion?

How would this change the way we approach projects?

Making plans would always imply the possibility of failure and the willingness to adapt to new insights and shifting contexts.

Leading a team would mean providing a safe space to curiously explore, imagine, and build together. Guided not by assumptions and orders but by the vision of a common goal and the change we want to make.

We would understand that to navigate the ever-growing complexity of the Web, we have to heavily invest in organizational learning and in training our people.

Work would be more like a game. Playing at the highest possible level within the constraints and rules of the game as a guiding framework, but with endless possibilities for those who combine a playbook with curiosity, intuition, and creativity.

We would also recognize that the true reward is the process itself and that the process, therefore, needs our full attention. We would realize that it pays off to focus on finding the things that are truly worth your precious time and energy and that increasing the number of ideas we generate and improving the quality of the decisions we make is the only way we will come to working solutions.

We would realize that the true nature of an experience is revealed only in the interplay with the people who use it and that an invalidated design is nothing but an opinion.

We would have to get comfortable with uncertainty, accept our vulnerability, and learn to dance with the fear of being wrong. Because it will never go away.

Finally, we would acknowledge the fact that perfection is a myth yet everything can and should always be improved.

Now, do you really think you are in control?

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