GMAT Issue Writing Sample 10

Analysis of Issue Questions for the GMAT

“In any enterprise, the process of making or doing something is ultimately more important than the final product.”

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above. Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

10. The question at hand is whether the process of making or doing something is ultimately more important than the final product. Process may not always be more important than product, but it often is. A process may provide an opportunity for new and important discoveries with ramifications far beyond the current product; moreover, a process can often be an important end in and of itself for those engaged in it.

New discoveries are often unexpectedly made during routine processes. Such was the case with Alexander Fleming in 1928, who while conducting an unremarkable study of bacteria, discovered inadvertently that mold growing on one of his cultures was killing the bacteria. His ordinary process led to an unexpected and remarkable end: the development of penicillin.

Process also offers opportunities for refining old methods and inventing new ones. For example, as the defense industry slowed down after the cold war, many methods and technologies for weapons production proved useful in other areas from commercial aviation to medical technology. The same has been true of technologies developed for the space program, which now find broad application in many other fields.

Finally, in my observation and experience, people become caught up in processes primarily for the challenge and enjoyment of the activity, not merely to produce some product. Once the process has culminated in a final, product, the participants immediately search for a new process to involve them with. From a psychological standpoint, then, people have a need to busy themselves with meaningful activities—i.e., processes. So most processes can fittingly be characterized as ends in themselves insofar as they fulfill this psychological need.

In sum, the process of making or doing something frequently has implications far beyond the immediate product. For this reason, and because process fills a basic human need, I strongly agree with the speaker's assertion the process is ultimately more important than product.