"I am NOT the solution...Yet" - Getting to Solutions
2011 Sierra Innovation Summit Series – Part 2 of 6
Focus on Opportunities and Solutions
In part 2 of the 2011 Sierra Innovation Summit Series, I want to address the theme of focusing on opportunities and solutions. During the opening statements of the summit, the audience was reminded to "focus on the opportunities", "focus on the solutions." This message should not be new to anyone yet it seems to surface often in light of knowing that for any industry to succeed, this set of rules must be included.
As a new student entering the industry, you may very well have the solutions or even believe that you are the solution. So what are we missing here that would prompt the reminders? Perhaps it’s the overwhelming possibilities that come with solution generation. But more importantly, not all possibilities are solutions.
One of the common words of guidance that I've received from those who are successful in their green careers is that you must first identify what you can do for others before you ask anything of them. This advice fits perfectly with the solutions approach and its one of the reminders chanted in the back of my head leaving the home in the morning. However, in order to narrow down the possible solutions and create an opportunity at the same time (and no, simply saying "I AM the solution" doesn't cut it), you must understand the organization’s vision, its organizational structure, the information and technology systems that support it, and the management of the aforementioned, because each of these provides clues to the solution. Leaving any of these elements out of the solution-creation process will leave you falling short of creating any opportunities, let alone the solution.
After all this has been researched and you determine that you may not necessarily be the solution, consider adding "yet" to the end of that thought. While the economy is still reeling back and forth indecisively, take advantage of the drag in our recovery to use your research to determine what piece of knowledge will elevate you from the generalist competing with the masses to the specialist and establish yourself as the solution. For when things pick back up, there may not be time for you to add to your skillset.
~Michael
For previous entries for the 2011 Sierra Innovation Summit:
Innovation Summit Statements
Message Undeliverable – Generation or Culture? Part 1 of 6
Focus on Opportunities and Solutions
In part 2 of the 2011 Sierra Innovation Summit Series, I want to address the theme of focusing on opportunities and solutions. During the opening statements of the summit, the audience was reminded to "focus on the opportunities", "focus on the solutions." This message should not be new to anyone yet it seems to surface often in light of knowing that for any industry to succeed, this set of rules must be included.
As a new student entering the industry, you may very well have the solutions or even believe that you are the solution. So what are we missing here that would prompt the reminders? Perhaps it’s the overwhelming possibilities that come with solution generation. But more importantly, not all possibilities are solutions.
One of the common words of guidance that I've received from those who are successful in their green careers is that you must first identify what you can do for others before you ask anything of them. This advice fits perfectly with the solutions approach and its one of the reminders chanted in the back of my head leaving the home in the morning. However, in order to narrow down the possible solutions and create an opportunity at the same time (and no, simply saying "I AM the solution" doesn't cut it), you must understand the organization’s vision, its organizational structure, the information and technology systems that support it, and the management of the aforementioned, because each of these provides clues to the solution. Leaving any of these elements out of the solution-creation process will leave you falling short of creating any opportunities, let alone the solution.
After all this has been researched and you determine that you may not necessarily be the solution, consider adding "yet" to the end of that thought. While the economy is still reeling back and forth indecisively, take advantage of the drag in our recovery to use your research to determine what piece of knowledge will elevate you from the generalist competing with the masses to the specialist and establish yourself as the solution. For when things pick back up, there may not be time for you to add to your skillset.
~Michael
For previous entries for the 2011 Sierra Innovation Summit:
Innovation Summit Statements
Message Undeliverable – Generation or Culture? Part 1 of 6
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