不论任何事业，生产和行动过程说到底较最终成品来得重要

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11. I do not agree with the stated opinion. The author seemed to be consoling people who took part in a failed mission. The final product is almost always more important than the process of making or doing it, unless we do not pay attention to what we try to achieve.

 

By definition, success means the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted. The feeling of success therefore comes from meeting or exceeding expectations, like fulfilling a short-term objective or a long-term goal. When we look at Maslow's five levels of human needs, the need for recognition, i.e., the need for achieving some significant results worthy of praise, and the need for self-actualization, i.e., the need for achieving the goals that one sets for oneself to tap one's full potential, top the pyramid of needs. These needs can be satisfied only if results are achieved and goals are met. In Stephen Covey's classic book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective people", one important habit is "begin with the end in mind" so that the focus on the final vision is never lost. In any organization, if goals are set but the results not achieved, the continuous process of making or doing but without getting anywhere will confer a feeling of burning-out to the people involved. They will not feel the joy that comes with success.

 

In a business enterprise, goals not met or results not achieved can have grave implications. If the enterprise fails to generate a profit, it will have little staying power. The employees in the company will only be working on borrowed time before the enterprise collapses and they will be out of a job. But in setting the end-goal, the expectations should be realistic enough so that when the people involved stretch a bit and give it their best efforts, the goal should be achievable. Unreachable goals and unrealistic expectations will only bring frustrations that burn out even the best people. One way to keep all participants motivated and rewarded and to keep the project on track (with adjustments where necessary) is to set interim milestones of accomplishment. In doing so, there are now reasons for celebration for having made significant achievements and being on track to ultimate success, although physically we are not there yet. It is not unlike climbing the Himalayas, when climbers set interim targets of every five thousand feet of ascent. Then we take care of not only process learning and enjoyment, but also keep the end in mind.

 

Of course, we should not confuse making a profit with the ultimate goal of an enterprise. We should be asking the question: what does the enterprise set out to accomplish, with its profits? German thinkers of the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, like Ferdinand Tonnies and Georg Simmel, had expressed concerns that people in the modern economy were confusing means with ends. Tonnies worried that people were so overwhelmingly distracted on a daily basis, by self-interested choices, rationally-calculated exchanges, and legal contractual relationships, that they lost sight of the greater goals of community. Simmel raised the alert that people were obsessed with pursuing money and acquisitions, when in fact money was means to an end, and acquisition was means to satisfying a material need, that, unfortunately, was often an empty need that kept changing in a never-ending process. Both Tonnies and Simmel pointed out the long-term dangers of means masking ends, and of means actually looking like ends and turning people to look like mice on a laboratory treadmill. Insecure people amass money to be more secure, and then feel more insecure just in case someone comes to grab that money away. Resources not put to good use will not bring satisfying ends, and poor ends defeat the purpose of amassing those resources in the first place.

 

We must choose to do the right things before we try to do things right. The urge "to do something" is often celebrated as a "bias for action", but that "bias for action" needs prior thinking through. Otherwise, we may be shooting from the hip, or worse still, in the dark. A good product is impactful for greater good, while the process benefits the doers. But if the process does not lead to meaningful ends, the people may just feel unduly frustrated.