Career Paths - Strategic Eats Tactical

When I heard the circumstances in which 24 IDF soldiers were killed yesterday – I remembered reading these words:

“Our cards were speed and time, not hitting power, and these gave us strategical rather than tactical strength. Range is more to strategy than force.” - TE Laurence (The Art of War in the 21st Century)

Not everyone is interested in wars, I get that, but they surprisingly apply to our day-to-day lives. Let me tell you a little story as an example.

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Whilst on vacation over the summer break I took every opportunity to walk and explore rather than ride the metro to and from locations. On one trip I spotted a Starbucks en route and thought it perfect to stop for a mid-afternoon coffee.

My route was to walk along the street to the right of Starbucks. However, as I exited I turned left and continued walking.

Yes, my other right...??

Walking along, I marvelled at how quintessentially French it looked and felt. The road was pedestrian-only and narrow enough to look into the épicerie fine (delicatessens) on either side where artisans of all professions were lovingly poring over their creations.

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The sights and smells were a revelation!

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I hadn’t even noticed I was walking uphill until I started to feel the impact of the rounded stones the road was composed of. In short, it was uncomfortable, rather uncomfortable! But I kept going and reached my destination.

?It feels like life often plays games with me…turns out I needed to travel on this road again to reach another destination. But I knew the road now and made my way to it without Google Maps. Mentally confirming the uncomfortable road I would need to walk along.

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On the 3rd occasion, I was coming from a different direction than the 1st 2 times and relying on Google Maps since it was raining furiously, bitterly cold and with multiple bags, an umbrella and my phone in hand, getting lost would just be annoying!

Then I realised the map was saying I was on Rue Monge.

Which is where I needed to be except I didn’t recognise anything around me.

Who could forget those darn round stones? Yet now I was on a broad sidewalk, nicely paved and pretty easy and comfortable to walk along.

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I doubled then triple-checked and indeed I was on Rue Monge according to the Map!

Turns out that on the 1st day when I turned left instead of right outside Starbucks to get onto Rue Monge, I had taken a road which ran parallel for a time and then diverged.

I got to the destination anyway as Google Maps just keeps recalculating from where you are!

Meaning I didn’t realise I had not taken Rue Monge at all previously and on the subsequent trip saw in advance the map included walking along Rue Monge so I didn’t refer to the map until I got to the end of Rue Monge – which on the 3rd trip I discovered was not Rue Monge at all!!

, Yes, Urgh! In my arrogance and complacency, I just kept doing the same darn thing because I reached my destination using this road before so I didn't bother to check if I was even on the right road.

Getting to TE Laurence’s opening quote: We think that just persevering, hitting it hard, and throwing more force at it, will help us win / achieve a goal / reach a destination.

When in fact it’s about:

• Staying fluid and flexible;
• Coming at a target from different directions rather than following the path you have taken before. I showed myself the folly of this approach;
• When you reach your destination / achieve success – Stop to examine what led to the success with as much scrutiny as you would had you failed. How big a role was your strategy vs luck for example?

My point is this:

How often do we set off to our destination be it a financial, health, relationship or some other goal only to:

1. Accidentally turn left not right somewhere along the way and of course, we don’t stop to recalculate as the map does, we just keep going;
2. Mentally, physically, and emotionally register discomfort along the way yet continue to take that path;
3. Reach our destination and feel stressed by the journey yet do it the same way again and again (especially if you still keep reaching the destination, right!);
4. Never bother to check if there is a different, smoother road that can get us to our destination – after all people will hate and envy us less if we tell the story of how awful the journey to our success was ?? so pain has to be part of it surely!

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?Why do we do this? Is discomfort not enough of a reason to indicate the wrong path?

Must we endure the crappy boss, long hours, a poor salary which sucks the life from us…slowly?

After all, look at how beautiful the scenery is (lovely new workspace), the sights and smells are incredible (water views and healthy breakfasts) and how diligently all the artisans are tending to their creations.

Are you to contemplate another path simply because it’s uncomfortable?!

?Well, only you can decide that for yourself.

I suspect we know who trains us out of our internal guidance that says discomfort means choosing another path. As children we are told, don’t expect a smooth ride through life, don't expect it to be easy.

Why the hell not I say?!

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As I discovered there isn’t ‘’A’’ path or ‘’The’’ path.

There are indeed multiple paths to where we are going!

Free will means we can take any path including an uncomfortable one and still get to the destination. Even the ‘wrong’ path will still get you there. You can stick it out on the uncomfortable path day after day OR you can check if there is a different path to your goal or success.

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Or a better path will show itself to you as it did me on that rainy day.

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We seem to have this false narrative fed to us that there is A or The perfect everything.

We look for A soulmate, The perfect man/woman – what if there were many? Just choose and if it feels uncomfortable you may want to reassess…

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Whatever the 'war' you are fighting, (according to TE Laurence)it will pay (or demolish the enemy) to :

1. Know your terrain (understand the market, know your industry, understand culture, values),
2. Understand and respect your enemy (competition, opposition),
3. Use stealth (keep your plans to yourself),
4. Get close to the target, surround it, then attack for ‘range’ ie how close to the target you are, is more important than the force used!

As a strategy, it was executed perfectly and achieved its purpose yesterday.

As in actual war, people seem to prefer ‘hard work’, force and action (physical power) rather than the most potent weapon we have, our intelligence (mental power) to win.

You don’t need me to extrapolate further on how to use this in your career!

Are you approaching your career strategically or tactically in 2024?