An Algorithm for Career Success

rule

/ro͞ol/

noun

plural noun: rules; noun: rules

1. one of a set of explicit or understood regulations or principles governing conduct within a particular activity or sphere.

Rules rule everything. We don’t always like them, but they make life easy. Rules create frameworks or systems. And a well-tuned system frequently tested, updated, and reapplied to similar problems can give us Einstein-esque clairvoyance.

Creating a rule-based system or algorithm for our career is an almost failsafe way to land and expand in the right profession while automating how we ingest and process career movements and opportunities. This mental model of sorts can help us effectively sift through career options using a set of predetermined and future-oriented conditions to identify and adjust our north star.

Decisions should be based on where you want to be. Not where you have been. – Warren Buffet

Some of the most remarkable people I have come across in books and life generally have skillfully integrated this rule-based approach into how they screen and evaluate opportunities to pursue. Those people have two distinct decision-making modes. It is either a Heck Yes or a Hell No. There is no gray area because they put complete trust in their system and trust it will point them in the right direction.

You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going because you might not get there. – Yogi Berra

Having a set of career rules helps us anticipate and break down would-be hasty decisions that often get us trapped in bad situations, especially when we make a single shiny variable determine a seismic career shift.

We are emotional beings. Our brain is wired to perceive before it thinks. We use emotions before we reason. An algorithm is how we hack that default setting and transform the brain into an if-then logic machine.

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself – and you are the easiest person to fool – Richard Feynman.

We are all at different stages of our lives, personally and professionally. Some of us are shooting for the top job. Some of us just need a shot. Some of us are happy to still be able to take the shot. And some of us want to give our career and family an equal shot. Rules help us to confidently shoot for whatever we set our sights on and eliminate the extraneous variables that lead us to dead ends.

It’s important to mention that a rule-based system is not a one-size-fits-all template. Our model is molded into the representation of the future we imagine for ourselves and is customizable to our evolving aspirations and circumstances.

Still, there are a few rules that are showstoppers for most people. Historically, the one that dominates the talent market psyche is the “compensation rule” that sets the price parameters at which we are willing to consider a new opportunity.

For our models to work, we must start with the end in mind, taking full stock of where we are relative to our end game. The rules must work together to create an internal representation (archetype) of an external reality (the ideal next job), where the next job is not necessarily the “end state” but is a necessary step to getting there.

We always control the parameters.

Here are a few rules to give us a sense of how to apply this model. The following might be an oversimplification, depending on where we are in our careers. The cool part about this is that we can define and refine our own rules.

Industry: It’s the right opportunity for me if the job is in an industry where I have experience and interest. Proceed if True; Pass if False

Flexibility: It’s the right opportunity for me if there’s flexibility around how, when, and where I work. Proceed if True; Pass if False

Lifestyle: It’s the right opportunity for me if the job aligns with my lifestyle and my family’s needs. Proceed if True; Pass if False

People: It’s the right opportunity for me if my boss and my boss’s boss are people I’d enjoy working for because they share similar values and vision for my career. Proceed if True; Pass if False

Work: It’s the right job for me if the work is meaningful, I’m allowed a fair degree of autonomy to contribute, my work is acknowledged and rewarded, and there is fair and democratic access to growth and learning opportunities. Proceed if True; Pass if False

Temperament: It’s the right opportunity for me if the organization is focused on aggressive growth or shooting toward a liquidation event. Proceed if True; Reject if False

Or, it’s the right opportunity for me if it’s an “entrepreneurial culture” focused on steady growth and market leadership. Proceed if True; Reject if False

Financial: It’s the right opportunity for me if the company has a current ratio that supports payroll, with revenues that are growing consistently, and the company is profitable. Proceed if True; Reject if False

Our algorithm is a set of our own rules. Everyone might have different rules. However, they should be a set of rules that make us feel much more confident about stepping into the next chapter when combined and all true.

In sum, we should see our rules as thy rod and thy staff as we walk through our career valley of the shadow of death.

While on that journey, remember to adjust, adjust, adjust.

There’s nothing wrong with changing a plan when the situation has changed– Seneca.