executive thinking and operational thinking
A couple paradigms that I toggle between and that I push teammates to consider when they get stuck are a) executive thinking and b) operational thinking. These show up for me primarily as short sets of questions or prompts.
When I’m in executive thinking mode, I’m wondering:
Can we buy our way out of this problem?
When I zoom out far enough that this problem doesn’t seem to matter, what else is true? Can I make those things true when I zoom back into my current context?
Can we solve something upstream that solves this problem by default?
What’s the uncomfortable thing that our mission might ask of us right now that only someone with real power could do, demand, deliver?
When I’m in operational thinking mode, I’m wondering:
Where are there inefficiencies in what we have that could be cured with a simpler system? Maybe one that relies less (or not at all) on working memory, will power, or individual responsibility?
What’s the move that relieves a current pain point with the resources we have?
When I look at the aggregate of the two sets of questions, the executive ones seem to invite friction. They contemplate relatively big change. Lotsa feathers might get ruffled. We may find ourselves thrust into a new, uncomfortable context.
The operational ones, by contrast, seem to alleviate friction. They make life in the current context more palatable and effective.
Both, I think, at their best, yield simplicity on the other side of complexity. Neither is the “right” way to address a problem in every case. Sometimes, slipping into one paradigm, when your role, rank, or tenure says you should stick to the other, can unlock new possibilities.
-Eric
