In the workplace, people often think that your skills and experience are the most telling variable that impacts your performance. However, I maintain that your mindset is equally, if not more important, than the skills you bring. The mental models and personal narratives that we approach life and work with shape our outcomes and results.

Various disciplines help give us mindsets that we can incorporate into the way we approach our work. They are useful because they offer us a particular way of thinking and viewing the world. I’d like to give you some insight on 3 mindsets that you can begin using at work. 

The Engineering Mindset

While the field of engineering encompasses technical skills, there is also distinct way that engineers view the world. They approach their work in terms of needs and solutions. In order to see a need, the engineer demonstrates empathy with the customer--putting themselves in the customers’ shoes and understanding their problems--and the ability to turn problems into opportunities, or a solutions-mindset. 

Those with an engineering mindset then take a systems view as they develop a concept of operations, customer requirements, design and then develop the solution, test the solution, and verify and validate the solution. They also understand that the process can be iterative in the case of software solutions. Software engineers ask, “what is the minimal viable product (MVP) we can deploy, get feedback on, and iterate a new version?”

Dialogue with the customer throughout is key, and in the customer relationship, the engineer demonstrates leadership, curiosity, and an ability to communicate, listen, and elicit. 

With the team, the engineer brings an ability to collaborate, share ideas, and trust team members. 

All this is fueled by a belief that creativity and innovation happen through collaboration, and that any problem is really an opportunity. 

Where in your work would an engineering mindset serve you?

The Economist Mindset

Economists are social scientists who study human behavior through the lens of resource allocation. They operate from the premise that there are scarce resources that are allocated through both markets and government policy, and that individuals and societies seek to maximize their utility.

Economists use the concept of opportunity cost to explain that the true cost of something is not what you pay, it is what you give up. It is always an “or what?” question. For example, when a high school graduate chooses to enroll in university, she is giving up the option to work and earn an income during the time she is studying. The opportunity cost of her choosing to attend university is the lost wages she would have earned if she got a job instead of going to school.

Sunk costs are a term economists use to explain the costs that have already been incurred and cannot be recovered, and can include money, effort, and time. The fallacy of sunk costs highlights that continuing to invest simply because you have already made an investment is not always the best course of action. Sometimes, it is more appropriate to cut your losses rather than throw good money after bad. Google’s R&D group has a term for this. They call it a “kill signal,” and they determine at the beginning of a project at what point they will pull the plug. 

Marginal cost is a concept used to answer “how many?” questions. “How many garments should I produce?” Becomes “should I produce one more?” What is the marginal cost of producing one more garment? When you have broken a “how many” question into its smallest part, it becomes an “either/or” question. “Either I produce one more garment or I don’t.”

Economists also make a distinction between risk and uncertainty. In the case of risk, the outcome is unknown, but the probability distribution governing that outcome is known. Uncertainty, on the other hand, is characterized by both an unknown outcome and an unknown probability distribution. Most of the situations we encounter in business and life are actually uncertainty, not risk.

Lastly, economists have a distinction between fixed and variable inputs (or factors of production) and how that might change in the short run vs. the long run. In the short run, typically between 1 day and 6 months, one factor of production is fixed and others are variable. In the long run, typically a period of time greater than 6 months or a year, all factors of production of a firm are variable. Where in your life might it feel like you have a fixed input, but if you were to take the view of the long run, you might see that all inputs are variable?

What ways that an Economist sees the world would serve you in your life right now?

The Consulting Mindset

The primary constraint that governs a consultant is they are not a decision-maker. While this may, at first, seem like a disempowered role, it is anything but that. A good consultant knows that they have tremendous influence to shape the decisions that others make. While the decision-maker has all the power over the decision, the consultant has all the power as the influencer.

Consultants know that their superpower is their deep listening skills. When they meet with clients, consultants ask questions to understand what the client’s problems are, what keeps them up at night. Consultants are also solutions-oriented thinkers, so once they uncover a client’s problem, they begin thinking of possible solutions. The client experiences being listened to and hearing a way their life could be better. 

One of the ways that a consultant sees the world is through the lens of alternatives. They may have a preferred alternative in their mind, but convincing the client of the recommended alternative takes savvy and an understanding of how to use data and experience to present their recommendation.

Let’s say the consultant is proposing how a client should proceed related to an investment in a new capability. They may develop 3 options: 1) Status Quo 2) New Capability 3) Partial Capability. For each option, the consultant gathers data and conducts analysis to convey the features, benefits, and cost (to include opportunity cost) of each option. They may paint a picture of what the end game looks like for each option. When the consultant presents the information to the client, the obvious choice will be the option that gives the client the most benefit with the least downside, or the highest return on investment. 

Consultants also think in terms of current state vs. desired state. They have been brought on by the client to achieve some desired state. Or, in some cases, they have been brought on to propose a desired state. Any discussion of the desired state should be done alongside a portrayal of the current state, and specifically, what isn’t working about the current state. A well-thought out presentation of both current and desired state will move the client to want to embrace the desired state, as well as the change that comes along with a new way of doing things.

Another way a consultant approaches their work is by anticipating risks. Consultants know that there will be obstacles, roadblocks, and things that go wrong when implementing their solutions. Rather than wait for those obstacles to appear and then reacting to them, consultants anticipate them. They log all potential risks in a risk matrix, and develop mitigation strategies they will employ to prevent the risk from happening.

And if the risk does occur, the consultant has already thought through and documented the remediation plan to handle the realized risk and minimize the damage. This planning for surprise turns and unforeseen obstacles reduces the frustration that can accompany an implementation plan that has been thwarted. By conducting proper risk planning, the consultant can navigate the toughest obstacles with ease and grace.

And lastly, every good consultant conducts a post-mortem after a project ends or even after a meeting with a client. They document what went well, what didn’t, and what needs to improve next time. Having these lessons learned keeps the consultant in a continual growth mindset and continuously improving. 

If you find yourself not having much success persuading others of your ideas or making progress on your projects, try on the Consultant Mindset to make inroads with your colleagues and bosses.

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We can choose our mindset every day, and every minute of the day. What mindset will you bring to work?