May 11, 2023

[REPLAY] Dorie Clark: The Long Game

44 minutes

Show Notes:

“Really what I focus my work on is helping people and helping companies figure out, in the very crowded marketplace, how they can get their best ideas heard.” [8:08] Dorie Clark introduces the inspiration behind her work and her book, The Long Game.

“During COVID, it’s almost like forget the long term game, everybody’s all of a sudden in reactionary mode. How do we pivot!?” [10:50] Marcel comments on the broad shift in short term versus long term thinking due to COVID-19 and changes necessary from the pandemic shutdown.

“We’re forced into doing long term thinking if there are specific goals we want to attain.” [14:50] Why is long term thinking so hard? Dorie shares a quote she included in her book as she explains the motivation and pain points surrounding long term thinking.

“Why is it that we can’t stop this relentless, short term, crazy busy, ‘FOMO’. ‘I can’t measure myself up to the standards of these celebrities’ that causes a lot of anxiety for me, and unrealistic expectations. We just get busier and busier and busier. So how do we stop this pursuit?” [16:37] Marcel questions why we, as a culture, feel the need to be unrealistically busy.

“I threw myself into work, as a way of just distracting myself. The way that I think about it is like how they put patients into a medically induced coma so that their bodies can heal, because if they were awake, they just couldn’t take it. So work can be like your medically induced coma.” [21:48] Dorie shares a personal experience as part of her reasoning for throwing herself into work and staying busy, making the comparison to overworking as a “medically induced coma”.

“All the forces are going to be mitigating against it because it's always more convenient for other people if you say yes to them. So nobody is going to help you with this.” [24:22] It’s easy and sometimes the right thing to say yes often when you’re early in your career. But Dorie stresses that at a pivotal point in your business, you have to start farming the things that are already working and no longer hoping that every small opportunity might turn into something.

“So one of the ways that we can really focus on the long term is having a clear, defining North Star.” [27:28] Marcel asks Dorie to elaborate on what it means to find your North Star—the idea of reinventing yourself or instead remaining stagnant.

“The strength that we have as professionals, and the thing that actually makes us valuable, is understanding that different things, different skills, are called for at different times. And you have to be smart enough to understand when and how to apply those skills. ” [32:00] Dorie explains the 4 career waves in her book: Learning, Creating, Connecting and Reaping.

“What I think is a valuable thing for us to notice, and to recognize, and to reward is oftentimes in any journey that is a fairly significant one, there is a vast distance between the time when you commit to something and the time you reap the reward for doing it. And in between it is NOT a steady progression.” [41:35] Dorie, in closing, highlights the remarkability of being the kind of person who can preserve under the conditions of long term thinking. She shares about her free self assessment for Long Game Strategic Thinking.

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By Marcel Schwantes

4.9

5959 ratings

May 11, 2023

[REPLAY] Dorie Clark: The Long Game

44 minutes

Show Notes:

“Really what I focus my work on is helping people and helping companies figure out, in the very crowded marketplace, how they can get their best ideas heard.” [8:08] Dorie Clark introduces the inspiration behind her work and her book, The Long Game.