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Solve anything with Dr. Mark: Career advice for the working class; Career bypass surgery

By Dr. Mark Goulston, Source: Tribune Media Services

Q: I am 48, my technical skills are very good but not cutting edge current – think of me as still using e-mail when the world has deemed that to be too long and too slow – and my strategic problem solving ability seems annoying to the "pedal to the medal" executives and owners of the technology companies that I am best suited for. I am encouraged by the job market picking up but I am either not making it to the first interview or getting past the first interview. Can you suggest any ways that I can work around these obstacles or possibly point out some obstacles that I am not seeing?

A: You took the words right off the cover of Russell Bishop's new book “Workarounds that Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work” (McGraw-Hill, $22). Bishop says, “One of the most common challenges people face when promoting themselves shows up in ‘How you frame the problem, is the problem.’ If you’re thinking about needing a job, you will probably come across as desperate. If you think you need to underscore your skills, you may come across as inflating yourself. In other words, most people focus on what they can DO rather than on what VALUE they can contribute.”

Bishop suggests you think about what Contribution Capital you can bring to the table, capital that the company can deploy and invest to produce superior returns.

Here are some steps that he suggests you follow to work around the challenge you are facing:

• Research the organization you wish to work for. Do that by reading up on them at their website and by doing a search under their name on the Internet. It’s especially useful to check written communications, interviews they’ve given or transcripts of talks that the CEO has made on their website, to the public, regarding their vision and mission.

• Put yourself in the CEO’s shoes and imagine what is important to them.

• Identify two or three of their top strategic issues. If they haven’t written about those, use the strategic ability you say you have to think of what some approaches would be.


• Compose a letter or email to the CEO, the CTO or the CIO outlining:
-Your strong interest in their company and because of that you have been voraciously reading everything you can lay your hands on.
-What you would imagine their issues to be, what challenges they are likely facing.
-What the consequences of those challenges might be if left in the current condition.
-What kind of value opportunities there might be.
-Offer two or three options that would be worth exploring in collaboration with other thought leaders internally, to come up with a hybrid solution that is unique to the company you are approaching.

• Finish the letter by letting the CEO/CTO/CIO know that while you may have missed something important that only an insider would know, this is how you approach problems and solutions. Don’t you want players on your team who own the outcome and think creatively about how to create solutions?

• After you have a created a written communication that you think the CEO/CTO/CIO would be interested in contact that person’s assistant, strike up a conversation with them about what you have come up with and that you would like to send it to their boss. Ask them if you can send it to them to give to their boss and whether email or a letter would be the better choice (people receive so many emails that sometimes a mailed letter is now a preferable way to go).

• In your letter to the CEO/CTO/CIO be sure to thank and compliment their assistant who will be passing on the communication for his/her friendliness and helpfulness. Assistants of very busy C-suite people can frequently feel taken for granted and this gesture will often remind the busy executive to thank their assistant.

Bishop’s approach both identifies you as a problem solver who thinks creatively, someone who seeks to collaborate with others and someone who lives the values of acknowledging the efforts of others.

Even if you don’t get the letter read, you can still use the same approach in your interview. Focus on solutions that you can offer, on Contribution Capital you can bring to the table.

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Mark Goulston is a Santa Monica-based management adviser, executive coach and author of the book, “Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone.” Question him at: mgoulston@markgoulston.com.

© 2011, Tribune Media Services