To make productive choices in the working world, you need to learn how to embrace change at each step and take advantage of the opportunities change presents. At the same time, certain aspects of the working world have remained the same over the years. These include the fundamentals of profit and loss and the ethical values of honesty and integrity. To succeed in the working world, you need to recognize these constants and act consistently with them.
Takeaways
1. Recognize your subconscious bias toward stability. Evaluate new options on their merits, regardless of your starting point.
2. Accept that you will frequently change positions and bosses; holding a job for life is the exception, not the rule.
3. Observe technological and demographic trends so that you can position yourself in an expanding pie.
4. Don’t use simplistic facts from the past to extrapolate wildly into the future. New problems and challenges will inevitably surface.
5. Challenge the assumptions behind complicated mathematical models. A model is only as good as its underlying assumptions.
6. Look for new opportunities for your organization. If you come up with the idea for an initiative, you might get the chance to lead it.
7. Don’t get caught up in a fad or a bubble; in the end, the economic fundamentals of generating profits will always matter most.
8. Guard your personal integrity closely. The short-term gains of an ethical lapse will be dwarfed by the long-term costs of tarnishing your reputation.
* Source: Extreme Productivity by Robert C. Pozen