Monday Meditations - I'm Back....Really

I'm back...really this time.  I was getting pretty burned out over this blog, and all of the mishegas over the election and its aftermath was just overwhelming.  I can always count on the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend to get me back on track.  I'm trying a new format, so we'll see how this works.

This year's Princess was odd.  Daughter's best friend decided that weekend was a great one for her wedding, plus Daughter badly sprained her wrist, so Daughter didn't run.  My Cousin broke out in a full body of hives, so she didn't run either.  That just left me.  Which made for a different kind of race weekend.  You see, as I've told you before, Daughter hates to run.  Disney staggers the starts of their races according to how fast they think you are going to finish.  You let them know your speed by providing a finish time for a comparable race.  The only two races Daughter usually runs in a year are the Princess 10K and the half marathon.  What happens is that she runs all out during the 10k, so she'll have a good starting position for next year.  That means we stop for almost no photo opportunities and we run hard.  Because she doesn't normally run, the next day, she's sore, so we don't stop much during the half marathon because she's worried she won't be able to finish.  We have fun because we're together,  but sometimes I don't feel like we get the full experience.

I always run a race for time during the year, just to see what starting position Disney will give me, and so I can see how well I'm training.  My starting position is usually pretty good (which tells you not how fast I run, but how slow everyone else is).  This year was no different.  I ran easy.  I stopped for lots of photo opportunities.  I chatted with other runners.  I had a different kind of fun.  Because Daughter missed this year, she needs another race during the year for a Disney starting position.  We're going to see if we can push her in that race so she can have the same kind of experience I had this year - and we can have it together.

Oh right, the Trenches.  What does this have to do with the Trenches?  C'mon, it hasn't been THAT long since I've written.  Process determines outcome, both in the Trenches and beyond.  What determines process are your goals.  Daughter runs our races a certain way because of the outcome she needs.  I run my way because I have a different desired outcome.  One client can mediate, while another has to litigate.  A client could mediate but chooses to collaborate.  Each process requires different things from the client and the lawyer, and so some are not suited to given clients or lawyers because of their needs or their goals (or the behavior or needs of the other party).  Each process resolves the dispute, but does it in different ways, and those ways provide very different experiences. The first decision for any client is just like for my Daughter and me - what kind of race/process do you  want or need?  That choice determines the experience.  Here in the Trenches.