Let's just go back in the gym, get in shape, and see what happens.”

Going for Gold

Process > Outcome

We are often asked where Chenmark will be in 5-10 years. The reality is that we don’t really know. It’s not that we don’t have big ambitions. We do. We just don’t know exactly how things will play out. We have always believed that if, every day, we wake up and take care of our employees, our customers, our vendors, and ourselves, things will work out just fine.

We get this is not a satisfying answer. But, frankly, we live in a world of ambiguity and uncertainty. To succeed in SMB, one must get comfortable being uncomfortable. That’s why one of our core values is to Chase Better. We believe that outcomes follow the process, not the other way around.

We were reminded of this mentality when watching an interview with world champion gymnast Simone Biles. In the interview, Biles recounted a conversation she had with her coaches after deciding she wanted to go back to the 2024 Paris Olympics after withdrawing from several events when suffering from the “twisties” at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The reaction was not what she expected. From the interview:

“It was funny because the conversation didn’t go how I thought it was going to go….I was like, Okay, I want to go back to the Olympics. I want to do this.

And they’re sitting across the table and they look at me and they’re like, No.

I was like, I just told you, I want to go to the Olympics. I want to go back to the Olympics. Let’s do this!

They were like, No.

I was like, What’s happening?….They were like, No, you’ve set expectations for yourself for so long. Let’s just go back in the gym, get in shape, and see what happens.”

In the moment, this must have been very frustrating. However, by focusing on the work — get back in the gym, get in shape, see what happens — Biles’ coaches were taking the focus away from the outcome (going to the Olympics) and back to the process. Biles reflects on this:

“I was like, So we’re not going to the Olympics? We’re not training for the Olympics? That was really weird to me because I thought they were going to be onboard. Like, yes, we have the [program] laid out. Let’s go. They just said no. I was like, Did I get new coaches? What’s going to happen? [Then] I was like, Oh, you’re right… let’s not just think about the Olympics right now. Let’s think about maybe getting [my] skills back, twisting comfortably again, doing this.”

We love watching the Olympics. Whatever the nationality or sport, we enjoy watching athletes perform at the peak of their abilities. The Olympics is three weeks of watching people Chase Better. And sometimes, like it did this week for Simone, it goes to show if you focus on getting the process correct, the outcomes can be pretty darn incredible.

Have a great week,

Your Chenmark Team

Subscribe to Weekly Thoughts

Also, we’re hiring.