Once upon a time, in 1804, Meriwether Lewis woke up on a cold winter morning and realized something was missing in his life.  As a child, he liked nature and hiking, and here he was, living in the heart of Washington D.C.  Certainly, he had more to offer his country than simply being a public servant.

It was high time he spent a portion of his life looking.  Looking for what, he did not know, but he knew he had an urge to try something new, and now was as good a time as any to go looking for it.

Lewis hopped over to his friend William Clark‘s house and relayed his urge to discover.  “Billy,” he told his army buddy, “I know there’s something big out there.  Something just waiting to be discovered.  And I want to explore it, feel its newness underneath my hands and mold it into something good for the United States.”

“Sounds great,” Clark replied.  “Where should we start?”

“That’s just it, Billy.  I don’t know.  I just know it’s out there.  There are so many things mankind has not achieved.  It can’t be hard to find it.  Let’s just grab some horses, pack our bags and start walking.”

“Which direction?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Lewis said.  “Let’s just follow the sun as it sets and see where it leads us.”

And that’s how two of the greatest American explorers made their name across history.

Okay, not so much.  But for those of you who are rolling your eyes, consider this – many of us tell ourselves the same story during the “discovery” phase of project planning.  We explore for the sake of exploration in order to “learn something new.”

Learning something new is great, but it must be accompanied by purpose.  If Lewis and Clark had just set off with backpacks one day, their journey would have been more like Into the Wild.  But they didn’t just leave to fulfill an urge to discover.  They set off to map a portion of America’s new landscape for future settlers and their government.  They had direction and focus, and they planned their trip accordingly.

As you enter the discovery phase of your next project, ask yourself – What am I here for?  What is my purpose?  And how can I focus my efforts on meeting my purpose?

If you can’t justify your actions, even in the early stages of project management, you may just be exploring for the thrill of discovery.

-Deborah Fike

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