Benefits of process over product

Process over product is the idea that the experience is more important than how the end product looks. This means placing value in struggle, learning from mistakes, trial and error, and the overall experience of the process over making sure the final product looks appealing to others. 

Focusing on the process rather than the product offers several significant benefits for children, particularly in terms of their development, learning, and emotional well-being. Here are some key benefits:

Encourages Creativity and Problem-Solving: When children focus on the process, they are more likely to experiment, make mistakes, and learn from them. This promotes creativity, critical thinking, and the ability to solve problems independently.

Promotes Growth Mindset: Emphasizing the process rather than the end result helps children understand that effort, perseverance, and learning from failure are important aspects of success. This fosters a growth mindset, where children see challenges as opportunities to grow.

Reduces Pressure and Anxiety: Focusing on the product can often lead to performance anxiety and perfectionism. By valuing the process, children feel less pressure to achieve a specific outcome and can enjoy the experience of learning without fear of failure.

Encourages Self-Expression: When children are encouraged to focus on how they approach a task rather than just the final result, they feel more free to express themselves. This can be especially important in creative tasks like art, music, or storytelling.

Fosters Intrinsic Motivation: Focusing on the process helps children find enjoyment and satisfaction in the activity itself, rather than seeking external validation for the product. This cultivates intrinsic motivation, where the act of doing is rewarding in itself.

Builds Resilience: The process often involves overcoming obstacles, trying different approaches, and learning persistence. Children who focus on the process build resilience, learning to bounce back from setbacks.

We could hover, cut, alter, and tie knots all day for kids to make sure the end product looks "good" or "cute" but in doing so, we steal their struggle, and significantly alter their experience and all they can gain from it. For all we know they are on the cusp of figuring out how to tie that knot or cut that curved line, and they simply need more time with the task. 

By intervening, we potentially interrupt their growth and 'aha' moment. When you have helpful intentions and want to aid children in a task, consider first asking them, "Do you want my help, or do you want more time figuring that out?" And remember that they gain so many life skills when the process is their focus.