STRATEGY SESSIONS #22

LINKING MARKETS AND STRATEGY

by Dr. Steve Payne

Strategies such as “retrenchment” and “reinvention” take on greater relevance during recessionary periods such as Americans have faced in recent years.   Some research is required, though, to indicate which strategies better “fit” particular markets.  Some people choose contrarian approaches, for example in their investment strategies.  Contrarians go “against the grain” or contrary to typical strategies, such as buying when most people are selling (in expectation of changing market conditions).  Markets such as stocks and mutual funds, gold or other precious metals, and real estate all share at least one major strategic issue -- the question of when individuals should enter and when they should exit such markets. 

Career decisions that don’t reflect at least some concern for changing supply and demand characteristics in markets have much greater likelihood for disappointment.  Passion or enthusiasm for a particular career path is probably the greatest decision consideration, but that factor alone is often not enough.  I’ve known friends who really regretted their degree choices – even with a terminal or Ph.D. degree.  Some who chose in the past to get a Ph.D. in literature, for example, were disappointed at their career prospects upon completion of the degree.  Due to an excess supply of PhDs in that field, many encountered low starting salaries and opportunities limited to teaching a few classes in several community colleges that were many miles apart.  Because of  supply and demand characteristics in certain fields, such as engineering, college graduates can see extreme swings over three or four years in the number of jobs available and their starting salaries.  I was disappointed myself to see that the number and quality of entry-level positions were very low the year that I happened to complete my bachelor degree in engineering, while jobs were much more plentiful only a year and two earlier for those who graduated then.

Books are available at public libraries that focus on supply and demand projections for particular jobs that require either high-school or college degrees.  These projections for the future may not  be 100% accurate, but the projections do offer information that is much more likely to be true than mere speculation.  Knowledge about demand and supply in particular career or job markets can help you establish more grounded expectations for job search, which could be important in personally handling early failures.  This knowledge might also help you to develop a finer-tuned strategy that might be aimed at a particular segment or niche of a market and one that has somewhat better supply-demand characteristics.

Improved market-based information can be important for more than career or job searches.  I mentioned investment strategies earlier.  Financial investments might be aimed at higher education for children, retirement, etc.   Investment strategies could be shorter- or longer-term ones, or they could be integrative plans linking short-, intermediate-, and long-term decisions.  Short-term financial moves can have higher risks, particularly those who are “day traders” or those involved in commodity markets.   Longer-term investments, such as for retirement purposes when this is conducted at a fairly young age, usually have very different market considerations.  Factors such as the time value of money as well as the relative stability of returns in certain financial markets over long years of investment offer more security and predictability than commonly found in short-term investments.

Market-based considerations can even be a concern for some in personal relationship planning.  I remember an article in The New Yorker years ago that discussed using tools of strategic analysis for dating and marriage potentials.  There have also been articles written and debated about single women of a certain age and their declining prospects for finding suitable marriage partners.  Some of you have probably even heard the unfortunate expression “the meat market” used to describe going to nightclubs, pubs, or other places in hopes of meeting “Ms. or Mr. Right.”  On-line and commercial dating services exist as types of markets for dating and relationship or marriage potential, beyond the traditional ones of chance or friend referral.  This perspective of markets for finding relationships or marriages can certainly seem somewhat cold or impersonal, but knowledge of more and different places and ways to meet potential partners, no doubt, does increase the probability of one encountering more suitable candidates for personal relationships.  Romantic, intuitive, and emotional factors concerning dating and marriage prospects could at least be supplemented by a few more strategic and analytical concerns.

STRATEGY SESSIONS #21
 
THINKING AND WORKING SMARTER

by Dr. Steve Payne

 

The vast majority of Americans are neither very wealthy nor extremely poor.  Most of us are likely to be what has been traditionally called the working or middle class.  The last thirty years, and particularly the last three or four years, have really impacted the lives and prospects of many working- and middle-class Americans.
 
James Carville and Stan Greenberg are the authors of a 2012 book entitled It’s the Middle Class, Stupid.  They describe economic and other challenges for most Americans.  The gap between working- or middle-class incomes and those of the richest Americans has been increasing.  At the same time, middle and working class Americans have been putting in more hours at work in recent years.  Taking an extra job or working more overtime, no doubt, improves the earnings income of workers, but often at the expense of their quality time with family and needed time away from work for rest and renewal.

Zbigniew Brzezinski’s new book, Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power, tells us that two-thirds of Americans think that our country is in economic decline and that a serious and difficult renewal process is necessary.  Overcoming political gridlock and actually accomplishing change at the national level takes high priority in Brzezinski’s book and in other recent commentaries.  Assuming responsibility and taking action must occur, however, at the individual level as well.  Many Americans are now working harder or working longer hours, but are many of us working smarter?  

By working smarter, I’m suggesting something other than increased resourcefulness in handling existing job demands.  I’m saying that many individuals are working at jobs that don’t well match their actual skills, interests, and potentials.  They have accepted and settled in jobs that sap their enthusiasm, sense of accomplishment and pride -- instead of becoming more strategic or smarter about their own personal characteristics and certain market or employment niches that might better challenge their abilities.  Steps 1 and 2 in the strategic decision-making process that I’ve been recommending focus on just these two concerns – greater self-knowledge and improved understanding of employment markets and those competing within these markets. 

Many Americans have become frustrated and disillusioned when weeks and months of search effort have resulted in very few or no employment prospects.   For some of these folks, their job search tactics are not nearly as effective (or smart) as possible.  Some are looking in the wrong places for opportunities, and some don’t really know how to conduct such a search.  Personal habits and old routines are often followed, without much fresh thinking, in the early stages of their searches.  Only failure can cause some to question their self-knowledge or their assumptions about existing job markets.  Deep or extended recessions lead some, though, to reassessing, and even “reinventing,” themselves.   They are able to develop a strategy to better shape themselves and their image to appeal to certain employers.  Such strategies do take some thought and research, but those unemployed or underemployed often have available time for this.

 
Writing a resume is a common approach in trying to get a job.  I’m suggesting that perhaps as helpful of a personal tool or process would be writing a strategic plan for determining a career path, for choosing a particular job market, as well as for marketing oneself for such jobs. 

STRATEGY SESSIONS  #20

 

CREATIVITY AND STRATEGY

 

by Dr. Steve Payne

 

 
I’ve stated previously that effective strategy depends on much more than pure analysis and highly rational thinking.  Without intuitive and creative energies and insights, very desirable decision options might not even be raised and seriously considered.

A big problem is that most people do not have much confidence in their own creative capabilities.  I’ve asked classes of college students to share anonymously their own perception of their powers of imagination and creativity.  The result was that only a fairly low percentage of these students expressed that they had this kind of self-confidence.   I believe that part of this perception of lack of confidence in their imagination and creativity is due to their defining creativity very narrowly.  Since they see themselves as having limited artistic or expressive talent in some fields or pursuits, they extend this to a general perception of their lack of creativity. 

Roger von Oech wrote a book back in 1983 called A Whack on the Side of the Head.   It describes how certain “mental locks” can rob individuals of their creative potentials for improved decision making and problem solving.  These mental locks to creativity often start in early childhood as parents send us implicit and explicit messages, and these locks become stronger by lessons learned in school and work settings.  Among these locks to our believing in and expressing our creativity are messages such as the ones below that we internalize over our lives:  There is one “right” answer; we must always be logical; we should always “follow the rules;” we need to be practical; play is frivolous and unimportant; some issue or concern is “not your area;” and mistakes/errors are not to occur.  These are just some of the mental locks that von Oech describes in this book.

Our parents, teachers, and mentors probably meant well in communicating these messages, and such lessons likely helped to some extent in our development and socialization. These messages definitely made it easier for authority figures to control what they might have viewed as excessive displays of our rebellion or independence.    According to von Oech, many of us learned and internalized these messages too much or too generally -- to the point that these stunted some of our creative potentials.

In dealing with current life challenges and facing very competitive employment markets, we need to understand, further develop, and apply as many of our personal resources and talents as we can.  If we believe that we do not possess imagination and creativity, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  We must break mental locks to our creativity for more strategic and effective personal decision making.  

There are books available at libraries and elsewhere that describe approaches and techniques to unlock submerged levels of creativity that people possess.  A tool such as a “creativity matrix” can occasionally help individuals to expand decision- making options beyond those that might be initially generated.   Imagination and creativity are gifts that some people possess more than others, but increased creativity in personal decision making can be studied and learned.  Such creativity then becomes an important strategic and personal resource.