My career seems to have hit a roadblock...
Steps to identify and revive a failing career.
"My career seems to have hit a roadblock... (brief pause)... I'm uncertain about where I went wrong or when it happened, but I've lost the enjoyment in my work, and the path to a promotion appears unclear. How can I alter my course?" This insightful question was posed by one of the individuals I coach during a recent career coaching session.
Taking a moment to reflect, I realized that I've experienced this feeling several times in my own career. What measures did I adopt to recognize signs of a stagnating career early on, and how did I successfully redirect my trajectory? These are the aspects we will explore in this article.
Execution Vs Innovation
Consider how much of your work time is spent on innovation rather than relying solely on existing knowledge to complete projects. By innovation here, we mean not just the innovation in science and technology, but also in engineering, product development, leadership, or your other job functions. When I observe an extended period of low innovation, it often indicates a potential career slowdown. Although the solution appears simple—innovate more—it can be challenging, particularly in a sluggish team and career trajectory. How can one encourage innovation in such circumstances?
Risk Tolerance
While having a high-risk tolerance may not be universally beneficial in life, it can significantly aid in advancing your career and breaking free from a sluggish trajectory. Assessing and increasing your risk tolerance is essential, and a simple method is to evaluate the proportion of challenging goals you pursue at work, whether in technology, leadership, product development, or other areas. If you find yourself only tackling tasks devoid of ambiguity and potential failure, your risk tolerance is likely low. While succeeding in these tasks is probable, the scope of problems you address remains limited, hindering your learning and growth. Prolonged periods of low-risk taking are a surefire way to guarantee a slow career trajectory.
How do you increase your risk tolerance?
To enhance your risk tolerance, consider the following strategies:
Choose Managers with High-Risk Tolerance: Opt to work under managers who embrace risk and encourage professional growth.
Incorporate Risk into Company Planning: During the planning phase, whether using OKRs at Google or goals at Amazon, ensure that a portion of your tasks carries an element of risk. Aim for a balanced approach, such as taking on 30% risky tasks and 70% guaranteed tasks.
Reevaluate Success Metrics: Challenge the conventional notion of achieving a perfect score. For instance, at Google, targeting a success score of 0.7, rather than 1, was considered optimal. This approach signals ambition and a willingness to embrace challenges.
Diversify Risk Levels in Tasks: Assess your current tasks and strive to diversify their risk levels. Aim to have a mix of safe and risky tasks in your workload. A helpful guideline is to brainstorm ways to increase the risk in safe tasks by expanding their scope. This can involve solving problems for a larger audience or elevating the success metrics you are targeting.
By incorporating these practices, you can gradually increase your comfort with risk, fostering a mindset that is more conducive to innovation and career growth.
How will risk taking improve your career trajectory?
Embracing risk in your professional endeavors can significantly enhance your career trajectory. By deliberately making tasks more challenging, you inherently increase their scope. This may involve targeting additional use cases or aiming for higher success metrics. Successfully completing larger-scoped projects is often a key criterion for promotion in many companies.
Furthermore, taking on more demanding tasks compels you to learn, innovate, and become more resourceful. These skills not only contribute to personal and professional growth but also elevate your value within the industry. As you consistently demonstrate the ability to tackle complex challenges, you position yourself for promotions and greater success in your career. Embracing risk becomes a catalyst for continuous improvement and advancement.
Short term challenges of risk-taking
Undoubtedly, engaging in risk-taking entails some short-term challenges that one should be mindful of.
Introducing more risky tasks at work may result in a decrease in the number of tasks successfully completed, despite the valuable learning and involvement in larger-scoped projects. Therefore, it becomes crucial to be part of an organization that values and supports risk-taking.
Opting for high-risk, high-reward options carries the possibility of things not working out as planned. For instance, taking on a new job with promising rewards might not pan out favorably. In such instances, it's vital to adopt a "fail fast" mentality, swiftly cutting losses. Rather than becoming disheartened, use the experience as an opportunity to learn from the challenges before moving on to new endeavors.
In conclusion, embracing risk is a crucial component of career growth and strategic planning. A supportive organizational environment, coupled with thoughtful project planning, enables individuals to maximize both career advancement and continuous learning.
Reflecting on your personal risk tolerance and experiences can offer valuable insights. Consider how your engagement with risk has shaped your career and identify the level of risk that aligns with your comfort zone. If you find your career at a standstill and are looking to regain momentum, I'm here to provide assistance as a coach and mentor. Together, we can calmly explore strategies to revive and enhance your professional journey!!