When you are growing either your business or your career (and increasingly, the two are inextricably linked), it’s tempting to focus your time on activities that directly lead to either revenue or job opportunities. The Sirens of Dwindling Bandwidth and The Refrain of Anxious Spouses can easily drive you to flee exploratory, undefined activities, viewing them as luxuries you simply cannot afford.
But these open-ended activities are precisely the things you should be doing. In fact, the greater the degree of turmoil, flux and transition your company (or you) are in, the greater “allocation” you should make to pursuits that may not yield obvious outcomes at the outset.
This is because phases of transition bring ambiguity with them as part of the territory. You are creating a new market or product that doesn’t exist…or you are writing a job description for something you (nor anyone) has done before. Therefore, it’s time to create rather than transact. And creativity requires exploration of things – and people – who know what you don’t. Continue reading →