Is there such a thing as a person having a calling? I wrestled with this for a very long time. What is the difference between my just wanting to do pursue a profession and my being called to it?
Right out of college I became an engineer. I love technology. I like taking things apart. I like figuring out how things work, and seeing if I can make them perform better.
Here I am years later and I realize that the themes of technology (in the form of using technical tools and solid research methods), taking things apart and figuring out how to improve them have never left me.
Nowadays, though, I don’t take apart expensive machinery or industrial computers. Instead, I’m more interested in how people function, how we can find work that really matters to us. I like seeing people perform “better” in terms of seeing them with a higher quality of life.
Was I really called to be an engineer? If so, did I forsake that calling when I left formal engineering years ago?
My approach here usually follows a pretty straight forward path:
I see a job or a role that looks pretty exciting, and seems like it would be fun.
I search every last opening I can find in an attempt to land the opportunity.
I get the deal, dive in, and have fun.
This was pretty much my approach for years.
Types of Calling
I do believe that people can be called to certain professions, but I don’t believe that is the only way that calling works. There are perhaps dozens of ways that people can be internally compelled toward a course in their lives. Some of which include a calling to:
Specific geographies – the Serengeti
Particular groups of people – the underprivileged
A cause – clean drinking water, micro loans
Using a certain set of skills – ZZZZZZZ
For me, I see myself falling in the latter category as I really enjoy applying my curiosity, my drive, my enthusiasm for good work, my technical bent, all of it in the name of making something or some process better for everyone. You see, I think the idea of being called to an occupation just doesn’t fit me because I could be happy in a wide range of jobs as long as I feel I am able to use my skills.
Not too long ago I had a contract position with a very large Fortune 500 company. I was happier in that job than I was in all the time I had been self-employed up to that point. I was so content in that role because I was using many of the same gifts and talents I listed above.
I was working with technology and people. I was able to learn what made this particular process work for the clients, and I was able to help them do something better and faster than before. You see? These are many of the same skills I loved using when I was an engineer.
The Spiritual Side of Calling
If you look at the first set of bullet points above I describe a rather me-focused approach my landing a job that I wanted. I want to bring this up again so I can contrast it with a very different type of calling.
Let’s call the first type of calling “I want” calling. I’m in the driver’s seat. I’m calling the shots.
The second type of calling I will call “I respond” calling, as in “This is being requested of me, so I’m responding”. Someone or something else is in the driver’s seat. There is a sense of serving the greater good. This second type of calling usually, but not always, involves more altruistic endeavors such as:
Teaching
Social work
Nursing
Animal care
Child care
Military service
The fundamental shift here from “I want” calling and “I respond” calling is that there is an internal desire being driven from some other source than money, ego, greed, or power.
The listener has somehow developed the capacity to hear what others are not wired internally to hear.
A very important sub-category of “I respond” calling involves when a person believes he or she is hearing from God.
The Call of the Wild Goose
I have been told that celtic christians used to use the term “the wild goose” when they referred to being on a mission from God (This is a far cry from our modern term, “wild goose chase”).
I will call this third type of calling “Invitation”.
Here, not only does the person have a sense of hearing, so to speak, but she also believes that God is the one doing the talking.
This is not limited to people who become pastors, missionaries, or who work for large para-church organizations. It
Every one of us striving for a better future will hit a point that deeply tests our resolve.
Life has currents that push against our dreams.
And these currents cause us to doubt ourselves, to doubt if we have anything to offer.
Stuck with the painful indecision that lies somewhere between uncertainty and lack of clarity, we find ourselves waffling. Making gains one day only to hit a setback the next.
You have to forget how unreasonable your dream is. You have to give yourself permission to be irrational.
You discover talent hidden deep within when you push into the place where you feel you should have given up long ago.
This is where you discover your greatness.
So, go down the rabbit hole. Chase those dreams of yours. Yes, you will look crazy. And someone, or many someones will try to talk you out of it.
And you may even fail.
But you have to go “all in”. You have to unpack for us everything you have to give.
Some people get their dreams handed to them.
For the rest of us, there comes a time when you have to fight for it.
I want retire like Peter Drucker. He is one of the most accomplished thought-leaders of the 21st century, but it isn’t his career that I find so inspiring.
It is the longevity of his contributions.
Born in 1909 Drucker would have been eligible for traditional “retirement” by, say, 1975 (granted, he immigrated to the US and became a naturalized citizen in 1943, so I’m not certain how this would have affected the timing of his eligibility).
Now go to his wikipedia entry and scroll towards the bottom where you will find the Books By Drucker section. Look at all of his publications after 1975.
Staggering, isn’t it?
Just scroll and look for every date past 1975, and you will start to get a picture of what we are all capable of doing after the traditional age of “retirement”.
Consider that Drucker was still teaching in his early 90’s!
An Older View of Retirement
Take a look at this diagram that I found; it describes exactly how I looked at life up till a few years ago.
Allegedly, Learning happens up to some point in our lives, and then we enter a very long period of Earning. We do these Earning activities up to some time when we start Living, presumably during retirement.
The sad truth is that most of us agree with the diagram. The responsible part of us says, “That’s just the way things are.”
However, the reality depicted in this image probably died sometime in the late 80’s to early 90’s.
The key to retire now is finding work you love. Find something that you can throw yourself into for the next 20 years (even if you are in your 70’s).
When you find work you love, you find life! (Tweet that)
I have no plans to retire — ever.
If you have paid the price to find work you really enjoy, then why would you want to escape from it? As long as you are physically and mentally able why wouldn’t you continue doing great work?
While I was a financial advisor I came face-to-face with many retirees who really enjoyed their first 18 to 24 months (this article claims only 10 months) of doing all the things they wanted to do — visit the grandkids, golf, hike, what ever — then…invariably the restlessness set in.
“I realized that I still have plenty to give, plenty of energy, and a lifetime of experience. I couldn’t just sit at home any more.” This and phrases just like it were so common from new retirees. Many became involved in volunteering.
I disagree with the diagram I showed you earlier. My own life isn’t one straight line that moves from Learning to Earning to Living. I do all 3 at the same time. I love my work.
Take time to find work you love, and then do it for the rest of your life. (Tweet that)
Contribute well into your 90’s. Be like Peter Drucker.
While most of my articles focus on people finding their voice through great work, I also occasionally write on technology that I encounter in my every day experience.
Our Panera recently went through a remodel which included the usual new coat of paint, new tables, and some new lighting. We also received these nifty new Panera kiosks where we, the adoring public, can place our orders.
The idea here is to forego the long line at the cash registers.
Jump to an open kiosk
Swipe your My Panera Card
Order
It’s that easy.
Panera Kiosk User Experience
My in-laws were in town several weeks ago when we first gave this a try on a very busy Sunday morning, probably the first week or so the kiosks were in operation.
It was a complete flop.
My in-laws were at the time-saving kiosk about 12 minutes and eventually had to get the help of one of the workers.
My wife and I also took our turn at a separate Panera kiosk while my in-laws found their way through the maze.
My wife’s order (You Pick Two with soup and salad) was fairly easy to get into the system, my kid’s order (grilled cheese, yogurt and white milk) took a little bit longer, but we eventually got it.
The wheels came off the cart when I tried to include my meal – Chicken Caesar Sandwich on sourdough, no tomato, extra sauce.
I scanned up and down the menu 14 times looking for my sandwich. No dice.
I eventually had to get one of the workers to help me. Still no luck. She went away and returned with the explanation that my sandwich was not on the kiosk menu, and that I would have to get in line to order my sandwich.
Seriously?
While stuck in kiosk purgatory I looked for the lady who was in line behind me before I jumped into this alleged fast lane. She was now at the register and making great progress ordering her food. My use-the-kiosk-to-save-time strategy had backfired.
At this point I was highly annoyed with the whole user experience, and got the feeling that this system’s days were already numbered.
Fast forward to today, about 8 weeks after our first experience.
I decided to give the kiosk another try.
After swiping My Panera card I found our previous order — my wife’s soup and salad, and my daughter’s grilled cheese had been saved by the system. I could order them again with one touch. Pretty slick!
I still could not find my Chicken Ceasar sandwich, but kinda expected that.
We paid for my daughter’s order at the kiosk, and jumped in the regular line to get my sandwich.
Side Note
[callout]I also just discovered a Panera Bread app that appears to be targeted for beta use in the Minneapolis area. I’ll have to investigate this further as it could be promising as well.[/callout]
Editorial
Panera is by far one of the best innovators I have found in the fast casual segment, and heaven knows I have spent more than my fair share of expendable income here.
This implementation of technology-for-the-masses is in the right direction, yet misses the mark in key areas.
If I can’t find my item on the menu, the system is broken.
If this takes longer than just standing in the regular line, the system is really broken.
As a user what I really like is the ability to have pre-packaged favorites that allow me to do just what we did with my daughter’s grilled cheese — swipe, pay, and go. Bang. Fast and easy. Just the way technology should be.
Panera could allow us to accumulate these favorites by
Having the kind people at the register say, “Would you like me to save this order as a favorite on your My Panera card so you can order from our kiosks next time and not have to stand in line?”
Allow me to go online and build my favorites — including the off-menu Chicken Caesar sandwich — so I can save them to my My Panera account. Next time I visit the kiosk, my favorite meal will be there just like my daughter’s grilled cheese.
I think the kiosks are a great idea that could really enhance my overall experience at Panera. In their current rendition, however, I just don’t see the kiosks ready for the general public unless the path to the kiosks comes through the existing register, just like back in the 70’s when bank tellers were showing people how to use ATMs.
If you have ever wondered about the Creator of the universe and His thoughts on your success, read on.
Does God Really Care About Me?
This one is easy to answer – of course He does. He created you, gave you gifts, and even gave you the freedom to reject him. He wound your strands of DNA to make you uniquely you. There won’t be another one, and I don’t believe He created you to live an unhappy life.
Does God Really Care About Your Success?
That is an entirely different question.
The term “success” can mean so many things. Here I tackle fame, money and power
If success means money…
I don’t know that I can answer yes to that one. I just can’t find overwhelming evidence in my life, in the lives of others, or in the Bible itself that God is overly concerned with my getting rich.
I do believe that every good thing that comes to me is from God. I have had some small wins in my life, and I have had some huge wins in my life. All of them came from God.
These good things didn’t happen because I followed some how-to-get-ahead-at-work tips.
Success wasn’t guaranteed just because I was working really hard. I’m sure all of us can relate to working really hard on something only to have it amount to nothing.
Now I like a good prosperity gospel as much as the next person. I like to think that God is just waiting to shower me with bars of gold should I just ask for his blessing. Yet there’s a part of me that just doesn’t want to turn God into a spiritual ATM that I turn to whenever I need to get out of a jam.
How do you feel about your “friends” who only come around when they need something? Yeah. See what I mean?
If success means fame…
I can’t say that I can find a whole lot of evidence to back this one up either. While I do have a few friends who have some notoriety in their own circles, I can’t say that they are famous.
You have to be careful about seeking fame. Michael Jackson is famous. So is the Unabomber.
If success means getting promoted at work…
I have met plenty of people who are living rather charmed lives. Most of their endeavors come up roses. It is amazing to watch because these people are not necessarily smarter or better connected. They aren’t using some secret app or spending more time at the gym.
It just seems that God smiles on their efforts. Their work bears fruit.
Does God allow us to get ahead at work? Sure. God gives us skills, abilities, and opportunities. I can also recall several stories in the Bible that say things to the effect of “God gave him/her favor with…” Yes, I believe that God can give people an edge at work and an edge in their pursuits.
Check out this interesting article on God and Career from Relevant magazine.
Why Would God Be Against Me?
Let’s rule out the basics. Let’s assume that you are not bent on mass annihilation, or getting even with every last person who wronged you.
I believe that God will allow some hardship to come into your life (for more on this, just check out the book of Job as it is an entire story about one person’s reaction when God allows tough circumstances into a person’s life).
Why does God allow difficulties? This one has puzzled people for centuries. I can tell you the effect it has on me. It usually draws me closer to Him. When hardship comes there is typically
In one instance I believe that God closed the door to my going into full-time ministry in my earlier years, and I believe that God also closed a door on my time at an employer. I can’t fully explain why, but I can tell you that I am happier.
A few days ago I did something that I had never done . I went snorkeling in Sharks Cove — a tropical tide pool. It was amazing!
Sharks Cove, located in the North Shore region of Oahu, is formed by a nearly perfect semi-circle of lava rock that starts on the shore to the left, arcs gracefully into the ocean about 100 yards, and then wraps back to the shore on the right side. This barrier serves as the breaker for the waves, thus creating the tide pool.
If seawater fills the tide pool slowly, then you get stunningly clear water. If, on the other hand, the water washes over the breaker, as was the case when we visited, then it stirs up the sediment.
Thankfully, the surf wasn’t too bad. As long as a rare wave — The Big One — doesn’t come over the wall, we should be in good shape.
A Local Provides a Warning
My wife and I went to the make-shift surf shop just across the street from the beach. Picture the burrito buggy from your local festival, make the buggy twice as long, and then fill it with all kinds of mostly new surfboards, flippers, and anything else you would ever want to rent for a day at the beach.
The place is dead empty as my wife and I stroll over to rent our gear.
“I haven’t really been renting much equipment today,” said the 50’s-looking local manning the booth. “The surf is coming up over the wall.”
“Yeah,” I said. Not really knowing just why he wasn’t renting today. Was he just not in the mood? I couldn’t get a bead on him at first.
“Where are you guys wanting to go?” he asked.
“Just across the street to Sharks Cove,” we answered.
“If you are going to go over there to Sharks Cove, I guess that would be ok. But you don’t want to get too close to that wall in case a swell comes over.”
“Ok,” I thought. “He’s coming at this from a safety angle.” That works for me. My wife and I promised to stay away from the wall, and then left with our snorkels, masks, and water shoes.
The shoes turned out to be life savers because a great part of the floor of this tide pool is all lava rock, which could make short work of bare feet.
Overwhelmed by Beauty
While the visibility may not have been up to par for the locals, I was amazed at what I could see under water. My visibility was about 10 feet in any direction, which allowed me to see more than I could take in.
The fish were beautiful and too many to count.
After about 30 minutes, I almost forgot I was wearing any gear. Another 10 minutes and I forgot I was even in the water. Somehow this all seemed so natural. Like I was meant to live in the sea, and that life was supposed to be this beautiful all the time.
Caught Unaware
Lost in visual bliss I was not keeping track of how close I had come to the wall separating the cove from the pounding surf outside.
A huge wave rushed over the barrier and into the tide pool – it was The Big One.
While under water I suddenly found myself being swept quickly about 5-8 feet toward the wall, and then — woosh! I was catapulted about 30 feet backward toward the shore all the while bouncing across every last piece of lava rock in my path.
I got pretty banged up. My knee took a bad shot. My wife had a few 3-inch cuts on her shin. We were both pretty shaken.
Banged Up but Rewarded
But isn’t this just like life? We have our heads down, working on some project that has our attention, trying to beat a deadline. Then, woosh! Something comes along and sideswipes us.
Something that we should have seen coming if we were paying less attention to the project and more attention to our surroundings.
Did my wife and I stop snorkeling, hang up our gear and do something safer? No way!
Did we pay closer attention? You bet. We kept a respectable distance from the wall.
About 30 minutes later we were rewarded for staying in — the sun came out.
I didn’t think it could get any better, but the transformation was remarkable. The light dancing through the ebb and flow of the water added an entirely new dimension to this inner space. The drab lava rock exploded in colors I hadn’t even noticed, and the colors of the fish were even more vibrant.
When life throws you, when the big one comes along and drags you across the rocks, get back in the water.
If you feel it is taking forever to find true work that resonates down deep in your soul, then this article is for you.
Years ago I called myself a business coach before most people even knew what a business coach was.
Sure, I felt like I was an innovative-ahead-of-the-curve guy back then, but the last place I needed to be as a one-person shop was innovative and ahead-of-the-curve. No one knew me, and even fewer people could understand what I did.
A nearly certain recipe for failure.
Then I tried my hand at being a financial advisor thinking that this was a good way to make ends meet while I got back on my feet. After a successful start in the business, in a very ironic twist, I ended up as a full-time business coach inside this Fortune 500 company.
Later my role morphed again to one where I essentially traveled most of the time as a software trainer. My dreams of self-employment were on the shelf, and quite frankly I had no idea where I was headed. I was lost.
Then the whole thing ended.
My trainer role, which was a contract position was extended and then extended again. I had hoped on getting another full-time position, but missed it after several tries. The last contract extension ended, and I was out.
At the end of a decade of trying and trying to make something happen for myself both as an entrepreneur and as a corporate employee, I felt like I had totally missed the mark.
I felt like a failure.
After some soul searching I realized that there were only two things that I could really call absolutes in my professional life.
I really like presenting, teaching, researching, and writing.
I love the freedom that comes with being self-employed.
Intentional Exploration Works
Immediately after my Fortune 500 job ended, I started working on a 1099 basis for a rather successful man who has had his own training company for years. I figured this would be a great way to learn the business side of training.
Now here I am two plus years later with my own business, building my own brand, and delivering my own sessions. I love it.
In many ways I think I have found home — work that I could easily throw myself into for a long time to come.
What I want you to pay close attention to is this: Don’t mistake this for some story about a person who bumbled around haphazardly.
It is Called Effectuation
A short time ago while writing my dissertation I came across an article that radically changed my perspective on how long it took me to find true work.
I want to introduce you to a geek term called effectuation.
To explain effectuation, I will start with its evil twin, causation.
Causation says, “This is the product I want to build. This is the market I will target. I have planned my work, and I will work my plan.”
This is good as far as it goes, but things rarely ever go according to plan. What researcher Sarasvathy has done is to move the how-businesses-really-start-when-things-do-not-go-according-to-plan discussion out into the open light.
It turns out that a great number of companies, names you might recognize, did not end up looking anything like their initial plan!
At some point in building the business, the spreadsheets and the market analysis and the demand curves and all that other stuff the leaders learned in business school went out the window.
Instead, the “execute on the plan” mentality turned into something more like “let’s explore the space were in.”
Effectuation says, “Here is what I know. Here are the resources I have. Now, what kind of business can I build?”
Effectuation is an intentional exploration.
And — most importantly — it is a completely legitimate way to build a business.
As I was reading Sarasvathy’s papers on effectuation I had this tremendous sense of relief. In some way, all my years of searching weren’t wasted. Instead, they pointed me to work that was truly mine. Work where I could accomplish things and make a difference.
Searching is Not Failure
I want you to know your time has not been wasted.
If you are currently looking and searching and bumping into walls and trying to follow a voice out of the maze, please hear me…
You are not a failure.
You are not some two-bit hack bumbling your way through life.
If you are reading this article chances are that you have a good head on your shoulders, and you have great intentions to bring something of great importance to the world.
Look at my path.
I followed my dream of owning my own business.
My first attempt didn’t amount to much.
Then I took a job to make ends meet.
Then I had another taste of coaching.
Then I had a great experience as a traveling consultant/presenter.
Then I took work to learn the traveling trainer/consultant business.
Now I’m doing work I love, and I feel I’m making a true difference in people’s lives.
There is no spreadsheet in the world that could have told me any of this would happen.
This path isn’t predictive; This is an exploratoration.
If you have ever
Felt you have lost all chances of living up to your potential
Grown tired of searching for work that moves you
Felt that you are just going in circles
Then keep exploring!
All of your lost days and wasted time are not lost and wasted after all.
How I Learned to Play the Inner Game of Entrepreneurship
This is a story about what to do when your best plans go awry. I tell how I have learned a valuable skill that saves me so much time when dealing with setbacks.
Here is just one example of my ride on the emotional roller coaster.
I was marketing for a speaking engagement, and spent no small amount of time on one prospect in particular. It is an agency that I have done business with years and years ago.
Since I knew them, I didn’t expect any surprises.
I was wrong.
A lot has changed with this agency, and their compensation has dropped to 1/3 of what it was in the past. Here is the range of emotions that I experienced in the span of 3 minutes.
Surprise – “What? I was getting paid way more than that several years ago!”
Anger – “That is so far below what the other agencies in this area are paying.”
Indignant – “Do I really want to work for that amount of pay?”
Remorse – “How in the world am I going to make it at those pay out rates?”
The most important part of this entire article — are you paying attention here? — is that I recognized where I was.
I stood at the junction between the exit ramp and the spin cycle.
This insight took me years to develop, and I can’t tell you the amount of time I have wasted in the spin cycle of perpetual self-doubt.
What I explain next is the biggest lesson I have learned in playing the inner game of entrepreneurship.
Do a Reboot
As I mentioned elsewhere in my Get Back on the Horse article, so much hangs in the balance when you find yourself standing at this junction.
I’ve been here before, so I knew what to do. I had to reboot.
I had to do something else productive to get my mind off things. In about 15 minutes I was already looking for the positive, a way to rebound.
“I need to start looking for better-paying gigs.” “I’m worth it, and I know I can do it.”
Then fear tried to lay hold.
“I don’t even know where to look.”
Then, digging even deeper, I found hope. I had galvanized myself.
“Wait a minute…There’s this one group I could speak to, and there’s that other bucket of speaking opportunities I have not even approached, and there’s the referral group I’ve been wanting to build…”
At the end of my emotional cycle I was better off than before the unpleasant surprise, but notice that this didn’t wrap up in a pretty bow in 5 minutes. There were a couple iterations up and down before settling on the positive.
How I Reboot
Notice that I consciously chose to do a reboot, to do something that would essentially change my mental direction.
This is the time-saving (life-saving?) thing that I was not good at many years ago.
Being able to realize where I am (in need of a reboot), and being able to do one successfully, has saved my bacon numerous times.
Doing a Reboot is often one of the following for me:
Putting it away. If the bad news came via email, I close the program. Get it off my screen.
Digging into one of my pet projects to move the pebble forward one or two blocks.
If this happens in the evening when my daughter is home, spending just 10 minutes with her is enough.
For you, it also could include:
Listening to 3 or 4 of your favorite songs.
Taking a quick 2o-minute walk in your neighborhood.
Calling one of your friends to de-stress for a few minutes.
(Dare I say it?) Facebook for 10-15 minutes (enter this time sink at your own risk).
Experience Gives You This Ability
So, if this little shock forced me to get better at what I do, and forced me to start thinking bigger about my future, was this experience such a bad thing?
What you have to understand is that this ride on the emotional roller coaster lasted about an hour, and the ride ended well.
It has taken me years to make the ride this short. Over a decade ago when I was just starting out, I did not know how to tame the ride.
Most often when I experienced some bad news, my ride usually ended with:
remorse
a heaping dose of self-doubt
spending the next week (or more) not making any progress.
Now I’ve been on the ride so many times that I have some perspective on it. I know what to expect.
I’ve fallen down so many times that I’m starting to get really good at getting back up. I can now recognize where I am, and choose the exit ramp rather than the spin cycle.
You can do this, too.
You can get back up faster than ever before.
A Reboot is Not Avoidance
A reboot is a short-term action to interrupt a negative line of thought, something you do to keep from going down the death spiral.
Avoidance behavior is some non-productive thing you do (filing) when you should be doing something productive (calling on prospective clients).
Wrap Up
The next time your business throws you a curve, use the three steps I use to win at the inner game of entrepreneurship.
Recognize where you are.
Choose the exit ramp.
Hit the reboot switch.
This muscle builds over time, and you will continue to get better and better at recovering from a setback.
If you feel it is taking forever to find true work that resonates down deep in your soul, then this article is for you.
Years ago I called myself a business coach before most people even knew what a business coach was.
Sure, I felt like I was an innovative-ahead-of-the-curve guy back then, but the last place I needed to be as a one-person shop was innovative and ahead-of-the-curve. No one knew me, and even fewer people could understand what I did.
A nearly certain recipe for failure.
Then I tried my hand at being a financial advisor thinking that this was a good way to make ends meet while I got back on my feet. After a successful start in the business, in a very ironic twist, I ended up as a full-time business coach inside this Fortune 500 company.
Later my role morphed again to one where I essentially traveled most of the time as a software trainer. My dreams of self-employment were on the shelf, and quite frankly I had no idea where I was headed. I was lost.
Then the whole thing ended.
My trainer role, which was a contract position was extended and then extended again. I had hoped on getting another full-time position, but missed it after several tries. The last contract extension ended, and I was out.
At the end of a decade of trying and trying to make something happen for myself both as an entrepreneur and as a corporate employee, I felt like I had totally missed the mark.
I felt like a failure.
After some soul searching I realized that there were only two things that I could really call absolutes in my professional life.
I really like presenting, teaching, researching, and writing.
I love the freedom that comes with being self-employed.
Intentional Exploration Works
Immediately after my Fortune 500 job ended, I started working on a 1099 basis for a rather successful man who has had his own training company for years. I figured this would be a great way to learn the business side of training.
Now here I am two plus years later with my own business, building my own brand, and delivering my own sessions. I love it.
In many ways I think I have found home — work that I could easily throw myself into for a long time to come.
What I want you to pay close attention to is this: Don’t mistake this for some story about a person who bumbled around haphazardly.
It is Called Effectuation
A short time ago while writing my dissertation I came across an article that radically changed my perspective on how long it took me to find true work.
I want to introduce you to a geek term called effectuation.
To explain effectuation, I will start with its evil twin, causation.
Causation says, “This is the product I want to build. This is the market I will target. I have planned my work, and I will work my plan.”
This is good as far as it goes, but things rarely ever go according to plan. What researcher Sarasvathy has done is to move the how-businesses-really-start-when-things-do-not-go-according-to-plan discussion out into the open light.
It turns out that a great number of companies, names you might recognize, did not end up looking anything like their initial plan!
At some point in building the business, the spreadsheets and the market analysis and the demand curves and all that other stuff the leaders learned in business school went out the window.
Instead, the “execute on the plan” mentality turned into something more like “let’s explore the space were in.”
Effectuation says, “Here is what I know. Here are the resources I have. Now, what kind of business can I build?”
Effectuation is an intentional exploration.
And — most importantly — it is a completely legitimate way to build a business.
As I was reading Sarasvathy’s papers on effectuation I had this tremendous sense of relief. In some way, all my years of searching weren’t wasted. Instead, they pointed me to work that was truly mine. Work where I could accomplish things and make a difference.
Searching is Not Failure
I want you to know your time has not been wasted.
If you are currently looking and searching and bumping into walls and trying to follow a voice out of the maze, please hear me…
You are not a failure.
You are not some two-bit hack bumbling your way through life.
If you are reading this article chances are that you have a good head on your shoulders, and you have great intentions to bring something of great importance to the world.
Look at my path.
I followed my dream of owning my own business.
My first attempt didn’t amount to much.
Then I took a job to make ends meet.
Then I had another taste of coaching.
Then I had a great experience as a traveling consultant/presenter.
Then I took work to learn the traveling trainer/consultant business.
Now I’m doing work I love, and I feel I’m making a true difference in people’s lives.
There is no spreadsheet in the world that could have told me any of this would happen.
This path isn’t predictive; This is an exploratoration.
If you have ever
Felt you have lost all chances of living up to your potential
Grown tired of searching for work that moves you
Felt that you are just going in circles
Then keep exploring!
All of your lost days and wasted time are not lost and wasted after all.
Then keep exploring!
All of your lost days and wasted time are not lost and wasted after all.
I was working on my dissertation this past weekend. I was about 20 layers deep in my literature review when I decided to look up a term I hadn’t seen before.
Then I saw this picture.
Image credit to Scholl, R. W. (2002). Motivation: Expectancy Theory. Retrieved at http://www.uri.edu/research/lrc/scholl/webnotes/Motivation_Expectancy.htm
It hit me like a whack on the side of the head.
I could see the past 12 years of my life in one image.
More importantly, I could put words to why my motivation flags from time to time.
The image lays out like an easy-to-read formula. Movitation equals Expectancy times Instrumentality times Valence. While these last 3 terms in the formula are a little too academic, they are easy to understand when we call them by different names.
Expectancy – If I put in effort, I expect to see results. If I push a working lawn mower across my yard, I expect it to cut the grass.
Instrumentality – Mowing the grass will win me the respect of my neighbors. A little more difficult to control. Here, having a good looking lawn is just a vehicle, an instrument, to get me what I really want.
Valence – Also known as the big picture goal. My neighbors will vote my yard as Best Lawn of the Neighborhood. Now I feel good about my self. Respected by my peers.
For me, a great deal of my motivation comes from valence. I want the big picture. I want to pursue my purpose, bring some kind of change to the way we look at work, make a difference in people’s lives. This is what gets me started on my journey every morning.
Problem is that I often don’t know exactly how I’m going to do that.
My expectancy is off. Way off.
When it comes to the nuts and bolts of growing my business I could choose from any one of a hundred things to get clients and speaking engagements. When I pick one of those ideas, and things don’t work out, I begin cartwheeling into the land of uncertainty and low self-confidence.
As entrepreneurs most of us pursue a picture that we have of what our business should look like at some point in the future. It will be a certain size, employ (or not employ) a certain number of people, be located in this part of town… You get the idea.
Yet, most of us have little idea how we are going to do all that.
In order to grow your revenue this quarter you might plunk down some money on an ad campaign in the local coupon mailer pack. You might join a networking group. You might take a class on public speaking.
And when the mailer, and the networking group, and the class all amount to nothing, you pull back.
This picture was such an eye-opener for me because, in my early years, I was in a cycle of false starts. I wanted to do public speaking. I wanted to make a difference, but I couldn’t get the first two parts of the formula to line up for me. It wasn’t necessarily about knowing how to dial a phone and ask for a speaking gig. It was deeper than that.
I didn’t know how to form a core message. I didn’t know how to dig deep to articulate my big “why”.
Without this core to my message, I feared I would end up just another talking head. Just one more guy who needs to be seen on a stage…any stage.
Even though I knew I still needed to hone my core message, I would pound forward anyway. Get a few speaking gigs. Most of them went really well…but something was missing. The core.
My motivation flagged, and I would pull back from speaking for a while to let things gel.
Now here I am years later. I had put speaking “on hold” for some time. Ok, a long time. I had put it on hold for so long that I had for all purposes forgotten that I wanted to make a big impact on people’s lives. Then, a long series of events (which I will cover at another time) led me to a point where I saw what I felt were some pretty serious injustices with regard to entrepreneurs. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but was powerless to really do anything about it.
At that point, so far from shore, so far from practically everything that meant safety and security to me, I found my core message.
