How excited do you get about processes? How about routine and organization!? Hmm...two ideas that get my blood moving. Not many of us get great fulfillment from following a process or the notion of being a being a really efficient cog. Even those of us who claim to derive energy from process and routine are most likely referring to the enjoyment of designing, implementing, or refining these things. Humans aren't really "process" beings, after all. We're "project" creatures. We can dedicate ourselves to a task or goal for an extended period of time - perhaps several years - but not indefinitely. At some point the learning curve flattens and the mundane nature of the work starts to drain our motivation and engagement, especially if we aren't being challenged in other spheres of life. Where this story gets really interesting is when you start thinking about organizational missions, goals and strategies. Finding a way to align and inspire a group of people around a shared vision or BHAG is one of the primary challenges of leaders in all organizations. But any BHAG worth setting requires many years - maybe decades - to realize. And you have an organization that is constantly changing. People - "project people" - are coming and going and few have the attention span and raw dedication to your goal to stick with you to the end. So, how to get the greatest alignment and effort from people while they're around becomes the real challenge. The answer may just lie in setting concrete, meaningful, yet shorter-term organizational goals that leverage people's project-based natures. For example, your organization's mission may be to end death from preventable and imminently treatable diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa. Great. Your long-term BHAG? Reduce the number of deaths from diarrhea by 90% in Angola, Zambia, and the Congo. Awesome! You've got a mission and BHAG worthy of your people's time and attention. But getting people to really focus and align requires a shorter-term strategic objective, like, "Create access to clean water in 50% of the highest-need communities in these countries by Jan 2014." Now you've created a project. An organization-wide project that will require good processes and certainly involve some routine, but one with a timeline and scope that really engages and motivates.
Humor me for a minute and think back to your first post-college job search. Be honest with yourself. It was awful, wasn't it?
If you were like me or any of my friends, the process could not have been more deflating. You are months from completing 17+ years of grueling education. It's almost over. Your hard work is about to pay off.
Then you look at the job boards. Everything seems to say:
"Required experience: 3-5 years in the industry in a similar role. Advanced degree strongly preferred"
Super. You have seventeen years of experience in an "industry" that ceases to exist post-college, developing "skills" that either 1) nobody cares about or 2) are not differentiating outside of school.
At the same time, you have been fed the line for two decades that you can do anything, so dream big, set long-term goals, make sure to do something you really love, etc.
So what gives?
I had the opportunity recently to speak to a group of Innovation Scholars at my alma mater, St. Olaf College. In preparation, I was thinking of what advice I would offer them based on the experience I've had early in my career. Here's one that stood out:
BE OPPORTUNISTIC. TAKE RISKS!
Whatever your parents told you about setting clear career goals and having a ten-year plan - throw it out! When you are a young professional, you don't have the luxury of being strategic. Nor is that necessarily what's going to make you the most successful.
When you are just getting started professionally, you are a typical startup entrepreneur.* Think about it...
-
Real-world experience is limited. Beyond perhaps a couple of internships and your pending degree, your resume looks pretty anemic. You have never had direct reports or managed a multi-million dollar project/initiative. Unless you are a whiz-kid, you have yet to develop anything proprietary. So the likelihood of landing that management job with the F500 company down the road is essentially nil. Similarly, most entrepreneurs, even of fast-growing companies, are under-qualified on paper. As a result, their odds of being catapulted to the head of the crowd through VC or other institutional funding are extremely limited.
-
Opportunity costs are low. Let's face it, if you make a bad first career move, the impact is pretty limited. You won't have missed out on much in terms of foregone income (the alternative wasn't a six-figure executive salary) or learning (certainly, some jobs teach more than others, but during the initial stages of your career, you have so much to learn that just about any job can provide a valuable education). Likewise, it's the relatively inexperienced, poorly paid person with the lowest opportunity cost who makes the strongest candidate for entrepreneurship. Start-up entrepreneurs are usually NOT former high-powered executives, because these individuals' opportunity costs are so high.
-
Cash is king. Again, just like a startup entrepreneur with limited savings and no real access to financing, keeping the lights on tends to take priority over pursuing your lifelong dream, when push comes to shove.
So, my advice? Forget the strategic career plan. Forget the dream that you've had since second grade. At least for a few years.
As with a start-up entrepreneur, being opportunistic and adaptable is more important than being strategic. Keep an open mind and put your name out there. Don't be too picky and don't get depressed when you can't find the perfect job.
Find an interesting opportunity that will pay the bills, work hard to extract as much income, learning, and contacts from it as you possibly can, and when the next opportunity comes along, move on. By the time you are five to seven years into your career, you will have a base of experiences, skills, and savings that will allow you to dream bigger and be more strategic. You'll have stories that you can talk all about in that dream interview. And you will have enjoyed the process a whole lot more.
Strategy used to be about protecting your existing competitive advantage. Today, it's about finding the next advantage. Strategy starts to decay the moment it's created. That's why corporations must develop strategies that address tomorrow's business realities. Strategic actions that companies take belong in one of three boxes:
Box 1 = managing the present
Box 2 = selectively abandoning the past
Box 3 = creating the future
The first box is about improving your current businesses. Boxes 2 and 3 are about innovation, breakout performance, and growth. Most organizations restrict their strategic thinking to Box 1...
In some ways, to understand these three boxes is to understand Hinduism . Though the Hindu religion recognizes 330 million gods, there are only three main Hindu deities: Vishnu, the god of preservation; Shiva, the god of destruction; and Brahma, the god of creation. The correspondence between the three boxes and the three Hindu gods is clear...
According to Hindu philosophy, preservation-destruction-creation is a continuous cycle without a beginning or an end. The three gods play an equally important role in all three phases of that process.
Full post at blogs.hbr.orgI found this recent HBR blog post by Vijay Govindarain wonderful and fascinating.
Over the years, much has been made of the link between religion, culture, and economic success. However, most of this has focused on the West and, specifically, the U.S.
From de Toqueville to Weber, scholars have praised the Protestant Work Ethic and Americans' proclivity toward self-help and civic engagement. While these may in fact contribute to the U.S.'s economic success, they are far from the full list of necessary and sufficient conditions for growth.
The post above sheds light on the fact that a range of cultural factors can contribute to economic growth. Some societies will score higher on certain elements while other societies will benefit from a special advantage in other areas.
All in all, a fascinating and important idea.
|
