When the Journey Matters More Than the Destination

Notes from a process person

Process and product are inseparable twins. There’s no product without process, and every process leaves something behind — even if it’s invisible. But how do they really relate to one another?

In a recent personal conversation, Dave Gray mentioned that he likes to work toward a product. That struck me, because I’ve always been drawn more to process. As a facilitator and teacher at heart, I’m most at home in learning, pedagogy, methods, and design. My “content” is the how. That still feels a little odd sometimes.

When I design a workshop, I think in terms of choreography: how to create interactions that engage, challenge, and move people toward meaningful outcomes. But those results don’t belong to me — they belong to the group. My responsibility is not to deliver their answers, but to create the conditions where they can find them. In this sense, my product is not the results but the experience.

This complicates my relationship with products. Even in painting, I care more about the act of painting than the finished canvas. I rarely want to hang my work on the wall.

And yet, there are exceptions. I love making jam — holding a jar of prunes I washed, cut, and cooked, feels wonderfully real.

So where’s the real tension? Maybe it’s not only between process and product, but also between ownership and intention. Some products belong to others (the group’s ideas in a workshop). Some processes fulfil me for their own sake (the brushstroke, the mixing of colours). Others only come alive when they resolve into something concrete I can hold.

But I also see the shadows of being a “process freak.” Sometimes I get stuck in loops, endlessly improving without ever finishing. Other times the results remain invisible, hard to share or value. And the process itself isn’t always smooth — it can be messy, tiring, even discouraging.

Maybe process and product are not twins after all, but partners in a dance. At times, process leads and product follows. At other times, product sets the rhythm and process carries me toward it.

And perhaps the more important question is not which one I prefer, but how consciously I move between them.

So I’ll turn the question to you: When you create, where does your energy go — toward the making itself, or toward the result?

I don’t think there’s a right answer. What matters, perhaps, is noticing how we move between the two — and what that reveals about how we want to live and work.

Thank you, Dave Gray, for the inspiration.

Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is nothing at all.

We invite you to a pause.
How does that sound? Could you do with a break?

On November 20, join us for a 30-minute pause — a small exploration into the kinds of stillness you could welcome more often. What happens when we give ourselves permission to breathe? There’s something beautiful waiting in those pauses.

This marks the beginning of Rebel with Pause, a new project Ewen Le Borgne and I are quietly developing — an invitation to discover how moments of stillness can help heal work culture and open new possibilities.

If this whispers to you, we’d love to connect.

The bit at the end

Exciting events on the horizon to support your exploration:

Join Street Wisdom in Amsterdam on Friday, 7th November at 16:00—slow down, stroll, and get delightfully lost on purpose. Sign up now to join! And there is a winter edition in Alkmaar, “gezellig” (cozy) and inspiring and always surprising.
Join the next Unhurried Conversation—a space to slow down, listen, and connect. We meet every 2nd Monday of the month. It’s free, and you’re warmly welcome. Sign up here.
For more Learning Moments, subscribe to my newsletter and get timely updates straight to your inbox.

Reach out, I’m always open for a chat.
Creatively,
Nadia

P.S.The paintings featured on the blog are my own.