Career Intensity: Business Strategy for Workplace Warriors and Entrepreneurs

Home

About the Book

About the Author

The Career Intensity Blog

FAQ

Buy the Book

Chapter Three

Embrace Strategic Thinking

Have you ever had a moment when you wished for a second chance at a decision, when you clearly recognized that you had acted irrationally? Virtually everyone has had 20/20 hindsight at some point in their lives and has longed for the opportunity to revisit a critical decision. The failure to think strategically – to see a clear path through the mental haze that surrounds a decision – when faced with a career-related or life-changing choice can mean the difference between rousing success and dismal failure. If you aspire to greatness, the process of strategic thinking must become second nature to you. By examining the implications of your choices and analyzing the options available to you before you make decisions, you will develop a competitive advantage in business and in life.

In its highest form, strategic thinking is a distinct perspective that helps you break down complicated processes into easily manageable pieces that can be arranged to present a clear set of alternatives. Some people are blessed with a unique perspective that allows them to mentally break down complex issues and picture alternatives with ease. Others must learn this type of behavior. The process of learning to think strategically is similar to learning a foreign language. As an American born and raised in New York, I learned to speak Spanish in my late twenties. As I practiced speaking Spanish, I became better and better at thinking and responding in a language that was not native to me. Today, I have internalized the language to the point where my response time in Spanish is equal to my response time in English; however speaking Spanish requires significantly more effort than speaking my native language. Those who are natural strategic thinkers can intuitively develop alternatives to complex issues once they review the existing evidence or data. People who learn strategic thinking can also achieve the same result – it just might take more time and effort.

A superachiever brings intensity to his thinking process. He is intellectually curious and aggressive. In his individual cycle of continuous improvement he thinks like a well run company – strategically. He thinks several moves ahead in his career. He embraces the future as if it were an old friend whose return he has anticipated for months.

Sabotaging Sound Decision-Making

Your mind has three interrelated and interdependent functions: reasoning, feeling, and wanting. The three act together in your thinking process and each contributes to the decisions that you make. Often, your most powerful emotions and desires are not apparent to your conscious mind. These influential subconscious feelings and desires can often be irrational; senseless or not following a coherent flow. I’m not talking about the way in which wearing a lampshade on your head at a party is irrational. I am talking about everyday decisions that you make without the benefit of solid logical thinking.

Ron’s experience is a perfect example of irrational decision-making. He is a talented mid-level executive for a retail company, which he joined five years ago. The company is a small, family run business that has not grown significantly in three years. His career is now stagnating because there are few positions into which he can be promoted. This particular company has always placed members of the owning family in the senior executive roles.

Ron knows he has the talent and skill to run a company one day. In the past, he was a regional manager for two well-respected national organizations, and he has launched two profitable divisions for his current company. In order to advance his career, it is critical that Ron obtain executive experience in finance. Ron knows this, and so he contacts several executive recruiters and asks them to add his name to the list of candidates for executive positions. He goes on three interviews over the course of a month, but no job offers materialize.

After the third interview, Ron becomes discouraged and begins to believe that he does not have what it takes to land an executive finance position. He feels that additional interviews will only confirm this fact. Ron decides to call off the search and remain in his current role.

With this decision, Ron has given up on the potential of an incredibly rewarding career – a career he has dreamed of pursuing – because three companies rejected him. Those three companies make up an infinitesimal proportion of the thousands of retail organizations in the nation where he could succeed. Ron’s discouragement has driven a change in his behavior that will have a profoundly negative effect on his entire career.

If he were to think about this situation logically, Ron would realize that he could be a viable candidate for hundreds of potential positions. His résumé is strong and he interviews well. It will take time to find the right fit, but eventually he will find the position he needs. The pain of rejection is a temporary situation that will pass, but in the midst of his discouragement, Ron abandons his career ambitions.

This happens to all of us. Your emotions influence your thinking on a subconscious level. You may not even be aware that this is happening, yet you make plans or decisions based upon this irrational thinking.