The Messy Middle
The messy middle is the period in the life of a project where you’re not sure what will happen, or how exactly you’ll get there. It's the part of any project where things get, well, messy. It’s the time when you have to stop worrying about getting it right and instead focus on finding the right solution.
The Messy Middle: How to Make Sense of Any Problem and Turn it Into a Solved One
The messy middle can be particularly hard to navigate because of the uncertainty involved. There are only two ways to head: setback or success.
Here are three general approaches that can help us handle uncertainty and keep going:
Get your facts straight. This involves taking time to reflect on what we know about our project and its context, so that we better understand why it matters and what makes it unique.
Set clear goals with measurable criteria for success. These give us something concrete to aim towards without getting mired too much in details at this stage—and they allow us flexibility when circumstances change later on in the process of achieving them.
Remain flexible enough to let go of one approach if another seems more promising at some point during this phase.
Get Your Facts Straight
We're often tempted to think that a "bad" problem is one we don't know how to solve—but it's actually an opportunity to learn something new. When you're in the messy middle of a project or important decision, take the time to do some research and find out what others have done in the same situation. What are their successes? How did they fail? And why? Before you decide which path you'll take next, gather as much information as possible so that when it comes down to choosing between two options—say being flexible versus doing something completely different than what you intended at first—you'll know what your options are before deciding on which one will get you closer to where you want go.
Set Clear Goals
You can't make good decisions without knowing what you're trying to achieve. It's easy to be pulled off course by unexpected challenges, but if you have clear goals in mind it's easier to focus on what needs doing right now. If you're not sure how to set your own goals, start by asking yourself these types of questions: Who does what I'm striving for impact? How does it serve them? What do I want to accomplish in this situation? Why is it important that I do so?
Remain Flexible
Remain flexible enough to let go of one approach if another seems more promising at some point during this phase. You might find that the solution you envisioned at the outset isn't working, or that it's not as effective as you thought. If this happens, be prepared to improvise and try something else.Don’t be afraid to be creative.This is a good time to use your imagination, and even try some crazy ideas. You might come up with something that works better than anything you could have anticipated.
Take a break every now and then so that you can come back to a problem using new eyes and with a fresh perspective.
Burnout is real, and it can be detrimental to your mental health if it's not managed properly. Taking breaks helps avoid burnout by giving your brain space to process all of the work you’ve done so far, which will help keep things from getting stale. In addition, taking breaks allows you to get outside of your own headspace so that when you come back to whatever project or task at hand, you'll have a new perspective on what needs doing next—and an increased likelihood of coming up with better solutions because there is more clarity.
On the other hand, don't take too long of a break: if you're away from something for too long (like months), it becomes harder to remember where exactly everything was left off--and progress tends not only slow down but has greater potential to stall.
The first step toward change is acknowledging that we need to do something differently.
We have a tendency to focus on what's right with us, but we don't spend nearly enough time looking at our problems and how they are keeping us from being where we want to be. It can be hard for many people to acknowledge the problem because it feels like a failure or weakness, but if you really want your life to change then taking this step is critical in helping you get there (and staying there).
If you're reading this section and thinking I can't possibly be talking about you because everything is fine... I may not be talking about you…yet! But maybe not forever either? Taking this first step means accepting that things aren't working right now and deciding that it's time for things to change. This isn't easy or comfortable - it requires admitting vulnerability and stepping into uncertainty - but if you want something different out of life, being okay with uncertainty is going to be part of loving yourself enough for both crazy risks AND slow incremental improvements over time.
What matters most is to follow your curiosity because it's our curiosity that leads to discovery and growth.
But it's not just about the growth. It's also about the learning. Curiosity is what leads to discovery, and it's what propels us forward in our journey as a species and as individuals. For example, without curiosity, how would we have learned that fire burns? Or how would we have figured out how to build bridges?
The pursuit of knowledge has led humanity to countless breakthroughs over the centuries—but not without plenty of mistakes along the way (see: electricity). We've all had moments when we've felt foolish for not knowing something or being angry or jealous at someone who knew more than us. But from these experiences comes the understanding that we need each other if we want to thrive and evolve together—and curiosity is key for both.
The messy middle is the time when you have to stop worrying about getting it right and instead focus on finding the right solution.
To borrow a little from Brené Brown, if we want to recover from our crises and move forward with our lives, we must regain our emotional footing in the midst of a struggle—and that can be difficult. If you were once a perfectionist, this may mean letting go of an idealized past where everything was shiny and new (or even worse: creating a false image of who you were before the mess). The new normal can't be based on an idealized past; instead it must be built on who we are now: perfectly imperfect!
We all know this intellectually but many of us still find ourselves clinging too tightly to an idea that everything should go back to how it was before—as if we could reach back into time and fix things as if nothing had happened at all. This reflexive urge for sameness creates unnecessary stress for those still trying keep their lives together after trauma has thrown them off course—and yet there’s no way around this instinctive desire because change is inevitable; there will always come a time when order cannot be maintained anymore.
Conclusion
The messy middle is where all the work happens. It's where we struggle to find our voice, or learn something new. It's where we face challenges and setbacks, take risks and make mistakes. The messy middle is a place of growth and learning. If we can embrace it and keep moving forward in this space, then we'll be able to tackle anything that comes our way.