Avoid the tyranny of how

Get clear on what you want before thinking through the logistics

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to figure out what you want to do first.
Only then do you need to put a lot of
energy into figuring out how you are going to do it.

(00:28):
Today's tip comes from career coach Jenny Blake in her
book Pivot, The Only Move that Matters as Your Next One.
She offers guidance for thinking about what is next professionally,
but a lot of her advice is relevant even if
you are not considering a career switch. For instance, she
advises that people avoid the tyranny of the how. She

(00:50):
attributes the phrase tyranny of the hows to coach Jeff Jacobsen.
Blake says that when people are approaching a big decision,
they tend to focus in immediately on how, which can
lead to what she calls panic mode. She gives the
example of a person who is unhappy at work and
thinking about changing jobs. The person wonders how she is

(01:13):
going to tell her manager, I mean really playing through
that whole conversation, and how she might go about finding
a new role within her company, or how to look
for a job elsewhere while still in her current role,
how to respond if various things go wrong, etc. But
Blake says that how is dangerous to ask too early
in the process of pivoting. First, you need to get clarity,

(01:35):
she says, on what your vision is. In other words,
before you think about breaking the news that you're leaving
to your manager or figuring out a schedule for structuring
a job search while also doing your full time job,
you need to figure out what it is that you
actually want, define what you want to do before you
focus on the process of job change. When the time comes,

(01:59):
my guess is you'll figure out a way to tell
your boss. You don't need to figure out how to
word the email requesting a meeting just yet. But avoiding
the tyranny of the how isn't just important for job pivots.
It's relevant for all sorts of other decisions too. For instance,
if you are deciding whether or not you and your
family can go to your aunt and uncle's anniversary celebration,

(02:22):
don't get distracted by how you'll explain your decision one
way or the other, or how you'll tell your parents
that you don't want to share an airbnb with them,
or where the rental car counter is at that particular airport,
and what you'll say when your cousin Marty asks about
your teen's nose ring. First, decide whether you have the
time and money to go and whether it is an

(02:44):
experience that you, your immediate family, and your aunt and
uncle would value. Only after you have decided whether you
want to go and could afford to do so, do
you need to get into the hows of communication and
planning and how you will deal with everyone who is there,
whatever big decision you are facing. First figure out what

(03:04):
you want to do or feel is the right thing.
Only then do you need to get into how when
we think about how too soon we may be focusing
on the process but end up aiming for the wrong outcome.
Much better to make sure we are headed in the
right direction first, and then figure out the route to
get there in the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks for listening,

(03:31):
and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

(03:58):
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