STRATEGY SESSIONS  #2                      

A STRATEGIC PROCESS FOR MAJOR DECISIONS

by Dr. Steve Payne

Four major concerns need attention in making truly strategic career or life decisions.  The first concern is improved awareness of personal life values, characteristics, and goals.  The second major concern is analysis of external conditions that can influence pursuit of personal life values and goals.   A third concern is choice from various possible strategies to reach personal goals, given existing and future external conditions.   The last concern is management and on-going evaluation of these strategies.  Many of my future posts on this blog site involve discussion of this basic four-step process.

Let’s start to examine this four-step strategic process with an example of a common goal that many people have.  That goal is finding the “right” job or employment opportunity.  Volumes of advice might be given here, but several key questions should be answered:   

1) What do you really like doing?   What types of activities capture your continuing interest or passion and link into your short- and long-term life goals?

2) What are you good at doing?  For what types of activities do you display levels of talent or skill relative to those of others?

3) What jobs or employment opportunities exist that allow you to do these activities and what are projections for future supply, demand, and compensation for these jobs?

These questions are simple to state, but take some time and effort to answer well.  Answering questions, such as the first two above, is part of a first step in a strategic process for career and life decisions.   

It’s still difficult for many Americans to have honest self-conversations about what truly give them more personal fulfillment and satisfaction. Old habits and fears get in the way and channel us away from healthy reflection. Americans tend to have an action orientation, even if in a misguided direction or in a stumbling fashion. “Navel gazing” or worse pejoratives are often associated with even finding a quiet time to think, prepare, or plan.  Also there are many people who have multiple jobs or responsibilities, who are in toxic workplace environments, or who are stressed by personal financial threats.  For them and others, finding a little opportunity for introspection or strategic thinking can be difficult.

Some view strategic decision making as a very methodical, analytical, and time-consuming process. There are definitely those who undertake strategic analysis in business and technology who apply very analytical and detailed methods. Exposure to advanced analytical models and methods in school, though, can be a turn-off for some.  These people largely reject analytical methods for personal decision making, preferring instead more intuitive or spontaneous ways to address life challenges. What I’m advocating is not detailed analysis or calculations, but rather the use of a basic framework that supports and encourages more intuitive and creative thinking. Once a particular situation is identified and studied by applying this framework, it’s time to step back from this initial analysis to find a quiet time for intuitive and creative impulses to arise and to inform a broader generation of decision alternatives and means to implement these decisions. “Eureka” moments in strategic decision making occur when intuitive insights and possibilities emerge. 

Intuitive insights, and possibly creative decision options, must be tested though.  For example, I had a friend who made several distinctive stabs at entrepreneurship while he was still attending college.  These new businesses weren’t successful, and his attention was so distracted from a demanding academic program of study that his grades slipped and he withdrew from the university.  His multiple academic and entrepreneurial failures in achieving major personal goals sapped some of his later enthusiasm and self-confidence.  Another friend had a long history of attention deficit disorder (ADD), and like the first one was often excited about new entrepreneurial potentials.  It took some time and negative experiences for him to recognize these challenges better and to discover several tactics to allow him to take better advantage of his intuitive energies.

Strategic success requires recognizing personal goals and how existing personal characteristics can support or detract from goal attainment. The first step in this recommended strategic process can lead to recognition of a need to develop a few new personal habits. Large-scale behavioral change can be unrealistic to expect. Selecting and starting to apply one or two new habits, however, can be manageable for many people, particularly if these promote improved strategy setting and follow through. Some might need to plan a little time periodically for reflection concerning their deeper values and life goals. Some might benefit from gaining the insights of caring others to discover possible areas of their own self-deception in evaluation of personal strengths and weaknesses. A basic analysis of personal goals, values, strengths, and weaknesses should be in moderate depth and be fairly accurate if it is going to be useful for strategy formulation.