PROCESS without PERSONALITY is DEAD

Stop being a process drone. And start architecting systems that drive creativity and demand ownership.

If the "perfect process" you've created, or the one you're trying to follow, requires your robotic attention and execution, you're not just missing the point — you're killing innovation and individuality, and mediocrity will be your only reward. 

In this episode of the UNCOMMODiFiED Podcast, Tim Windsor tears down the lifeless world of process worship and rebuilds it with the magic of individuality and creativity within a framework.

Highlights You Can't Afford to Miss:

Process is Rocket Fuel for Personality: Learn why mastering the system is essential, but mindlessly following it is a critical error.

Rules Are Meant to Be Bent: Picasso didn't stick to the rulebook, and neither should you—Tim teaches you how to master the system and then make it your playground.

Kill the Culture of Compliance: The bold truth about why "colouring inside the lines" guarantees irrelevance.

This episode isn't for the faint of heart. It's for people ready to evolve their processes, inject real life into their work, and kill the culture of fear stifling greatness. 

It's time to take control and make your work processes work for you and answer this question: What are you doing to make your process a playground for individuality? 

LISTEN NOW. Break the rules. And be UNCOMMODiFiED — or be FORGOTTEN.


Tim Windsor
the UNCOMMODiFiED Podcast – Host & Guide
tim@uncommodified.com
https://uncommodified.com/
 
PRODUCERS: Kris MacQueen & Alyne Gagne
MUSIC BY: https://themacqueens.com

Transcript

PLEASE NOTE: UNCOMMODiFiED Podcast episode transcriptions are raw text files and have not been proofed or edited. They are what they are … Happy Reading.

© UNCOMMODiFiED & TIM WINDSOR

[00:00:00] Excellence in execution does not have to mean stripping yourself of individuality and personality. And if someone's telling you that, you need to tell them to sit down and shut up. Because in a world of truly uncommodified people, process without personality is dead. I'm talking about dead as a doornail, folks.

It doesn't work, not in leadership, not in sales, not in anything or anywhere. Hey, my friends, welcome back to the Uncommodified Podcast. I'm Tim Windsor. And once again, I'll be your host and guide of another Chitty Chat where you'll need to saddle up and get ready to ride because today we're going to talk about process and individuality.

Process with a personality. Yep, the sweet spot where you're asked to follow a set process and you're still got to find a way to be yourself in it. You heard it a million times, right? Trust the process. But what they don't tell you is how not to turn yourself into a soulless robot in the process. Well, guess what?

Today we're going to dive deep [00:01:00] into how to excel within a predictable framework without losing your unique skills. Spark. Let's talk stats before you think . I'm on just some kind of soapbox here for a second. Research by McKinsey shows that organizations with clearly defined processes are 33 percent more likely to outperform their competitors.

But, and this is a big but, Harvard Business Review reports that 70 percent of employees feel stifled when there's no room for individuality within that organization. So if you're running a team, take a hard look at this. You might be crushing their spirits and your results by treating your people like they're part of a freakin assembly line.

And there's a paradoxical tension in here. Process and personality. True excellence, I believe, comes from nailing the process while also bringing your unique contribution into the process. into it and putting your unique spin on it. [00:02:00] That's where the magic is. That's where legends are born. You want to be the best salesperson.

You want to be a top tier leader, then you better learn how to follow the damn process and. Shape it at the same time. So let's get into it. How do we do it? Well, here's eight things I believe that if you understand and practice, you will enable and encourage process with a personality for yourself and others.

One, you must master the process first. Then you can break the rules. So let me be clear, if you don't know the process, your process, inside and out, you can't innovate, you're not ready to customize it or personalize it, period. There's no room for rebellion if you haven't even , bothered to understand the basics of your process.

Picasso didn't just start painting crazy paintings without first mastering classic techniques. So don't even talk about [00:03:00] individuality if you can't follow what Picasso did. Basic instructions, learn the playbook and then start writing your own true mastery means, you know, when to push the boundaries Without breaking the whole system to make the process your playground.

All right, so you've got your structure down now Here's where it gets fun. Find your opportunities to freestyle Every process has some wiggle room in it where you can inject your personal flair Stop being a drone and start looking for gaps, places where you can leave your mark and insert yourself.

Ask yourself, where can I take creative risks without shattering the success that this process is designed to create? The best leaders, in my opinion, are the ones who know how to personalize the system while still staying within its framework and they encourage others to do so. Elon Musk didn't just blow up the auto industry by following the rule book, of course, but sure as hell he [00:04:00] knew what the rules were before he decided to break them and torch them.

Three, build feedback loops. Don't just praise the process. Here's the hard truth. Most feedback loops in organizations praise adherence to the process. They reward people for being good little soldiers. Screw that. You've got to build feedback mechanisms that reward individuality and ingenuity within the system.

A study from Gallup 21 percent more productive. Yet, Most organizations are still out there dishing out cookie cutter feedback. Good job for following the process, Becky. Yeah, and now Becky is about to throw up and throw our computer out the window because you haven't recognized a damn thing about who she is or what she brings to the table.

If your team isn't bringing their individual strengths into your process, you've already lost. 4. [00:05:00] Create handrails, not handcuffs. Create handrails, not handcuffs. Handcuffs. You've got to set boundaries, of course you do, but don't with handcuffs. Handrails keep people from wandering off the path.

Handcuffs just restrict and constrict. Your job to make sure your process has just enough structure to guide people, but enough flexibility to allow them to shine. Now, here's a wild stat for you. Sales teams that have structured guidelines but encourage personal expression are 20 percent more likely to exceed their revenue targets.

And I believe that's because the human element is still alive and well and it's energizing your people and their results. Five, kill the culture of compliance. Too many companies have a culture of compliance. They don't believe they do, but they really do. Follow the rules or else. Or else what? What are you going to do?

Fire your best people because they don't do everything by the book? I don't think that's going to [00:06:00] happen. Compliance kills creativity. It crushes the human spirit. You think everyone's going to feel motivated and they'll innovate if they're terrified to color outside the lines? I don't think that's going to happen to create excellence.

You need to build a culture of creative autonomy within the process and encourage your people to take risks, to express themselves, to find ways, to make the process better and work for them, not the other way around. It's the only way that a culture. cultivates greatness. Now, if you're still listening, that's good because now we're going to crank this up a bit.

I've already laid out how to merge process and individuality a little bit, but let's get into the dirty reality that no one else I think is going to tell you about. People talk about creating space or creativity, but most leaders They're terrified of it. Why? Because they don't trust their people.

The majority of leaders are control freaks. Plain and simple. [00:07:00] Here's where I'm going to challenge you. Yeah, I'm calling you out right now if you're a leader. You can't demand excellence and strangle autonomy at the same time. I think that's a problem. It doesn't really work that well, in my opinion. You want your team to follow a system, sure you do, but stop clutching the reins so tight that you're breaking their will.

If you're a leader who's micromanaging every little thing, you're killing your best talent before they even get a chance to shine. You're setting them up to hate innovation, and the end result will be mediocrity. And if mediocrity is your goal, well, then you've already lost the game, as far as I'm concerned.

Six, eliminate fear and demand ownership. This is the sixth thing I want to encourage you about if you want to create more process with personality. So let's talk about fear. Because fear is a huge killer of creativity. You want a team that innovates within your process? Then you better eliminate fear of failure from your culture.

You think your people are going to take risks if they know you're going to flip out on them if they make a [00:08:00] mistake. That's No fucking way. They're not gonna do that. They're going to play it safe. They're going to color inside the lines and give you the bare minimum. But if you demand brave ownership Instead of blind obedience, if you expect them to own their results, own their success, own their failures, and take responsibility for driving the process forward, you're going to create a space in which they will innovate.

Here's a killer stat. The American Psychological Association found that workplaces with higher psychological safety, workplaces where people feel, employees feel comfortable taking risks, they are 27 percent more likely to innovate and improve processes. You think your rigid, fear based culture is going to outperform that?

You need to think again. The seventh thing I want to encourage you around I believe you really should reward failure, and innovation, not just compliance to systems and processes. Now here is where it gets a little comfortable for a lot of leaders out there. you've got to [00:09:00] start rewarding failure.

Yeah, no, I said it rewarding failure because if your people aren't failing, they aren't pushing the envelope. They're just riding the coattails of what's already been done, and you know what's waiting for you at the end of that ride? Irrelevance. Look at some of the most successful companies out there.

Google, Amazon, Tesla, they, they create and celebrate failure because failure means someone took a risk, tried something new and learn something valuable along the way. You want innovation within your process, then you need to stop punishing people for making mistakes. Create a culture where they are rewarded for taking risks that stretch the process and move the company forward.

Eight, and this is the last thing I want to hit you with, make your process and see it as a living thing. Your process shouldn't be set in stone. It's a living, breathing organism or system. You think you can lock it in place and keep moving forward? [00:10:00] I think you're wrong. Processes need to evolve as your people, your customers, your market, and your business evolves.

The problem is too many leaders set a process in place and think it's a permanent fixture. Look at Apple, for example. They're, they're masters of predictable. Excellence. Yet, they constantly tweak their processes to adapt to new ideas and new people and new technologies. Your processes should guide, not confine.

If you're not regularly tweaking and improving your process based on the feedback of your team, then it's going to die and so will your results. All right, now let me wrap all this up for us. If you want to create excellence, you need a process. But the process has to allow for the human element, the individuality, the creativity, the personality of your team, the chaos.

It's got to allow for the chaos that makes greatness possible. It's not one or the other. It's a both end. It [00:11:00] is process and personality. It is fixed yet flexible. Here's the bottom line. A process will only get you so far. If you want to be uncommodified, if you want to stand out, if you and your team want to be uncommodified and stand out, you need to bring yourselves to the game.

You need to bring your full, unique self. Your quirks, your strengths, your creativity. The process is your launch pad, but individuality, personality, is your rocket fuel. So here's my challenge in all this. What are you going to do tomorrow to make your process a playground for creativity? Consider this question.

How are you going to allow your team and yourself to inject more of themselves or yourself into the system and make it better? And most importantly, how are you going to kill the culture of fear and replace it with one of autonomy and ownership? Of brave ownership. Thanks for tuning in and remember, be uncommodified or be forgotten.

And don't just follow the process along the way. Own it, [00:12:00] master it, and personalize it. Cheers.