Which opportunities (invitations for talks, interactions, committees, meetings etc) should you take?

When deciding, take into account which opportunity might offer a creative boost

Which opportunities to take? (Image by Dall-E2)

It is difficult and often impossible to take all opportunities that present themselves to you (such as invitations to committees, panels, papers, talks, exhibit, grants etc), since there is simply not enough time, given all your other duties. Very often, smaller opportunities, such as for some local engagements, can also be quite a distraction and can reduce the time spent on other work. And so, very often, we focus on the ‘perceived’ bigger opportunities, because they are more prestigious, such as bigger speaking engagements, and do so at the expense of smaller opportunities. But small opportunities may offer unexpected benefits, and might lead to bigger opportunities. But how do you decide which smaller opportunities to take?

Of course you want to take the bigger opportunities, since that kind of exposure will be positive for your career. But is it optimal to reject all the smaller ones? Some of these bigger opportunities may also come with overblown expectations that are often not fulfilled in the end. Conversely, smaller opportunities may actually open the door to other, unexpected paths. So deciding which opportunities to pursue just based on the perceived ‘glamor factor’ is perhaps not ideal.

There is no definitive answer to the question which opportunity to take, as different opportunities may suit different people depending on their goals, skills, interests and preferences. However, here some general thoughts to evaluate an opportunity:

• Define your criteria for success. What are you looking for in an opportunity? Do you want to make new contacts, learn something, or win people for your cause?

• What are your short-term and long-term objectives, and does this opportunity serve these goals? One way to think about this, is will this lead to a line in your cv that is important to you? or will you learn something important?

• A totally different way to think about this: will this be fun, and thus serve as motivational boost? This is also very important, of course, and can be a perfectly legitimate reason to taken an opportunity.

• Assess the feasibility of the opportunity. How much time and effort will it this take? Can you do this easily without a lot of prep time, or will this require a dedicated effort on your part, like reading up on a topic, or perhaps preparing a whole new presentation? If so, then this often means for me to say ‘no’, since this just takes too much time.

Perhaps one additional way to help decide is one we rarely think about, and it is about creativity. Think about which invitation or opportunity may represent the most novel and unusual situation, like some setting that is new to you, or the possibility to interact with a group of people that would not normally be your target group. For example, I have recently tried to apply the following as a criterion: is there an opportunity for me to ask questions of the people that I would be interacting with that could offer something new? Is there something I want to know from their unique perspective? Or is there anything else about the engagement that could offer a new experience? If so, it may be worth it, especially if the time investment to prepare is rather low.

In the end, gut feeling is also important, we tend to do what feels right. But maybe this catalog of question can also help you decide; and when it doubt: ask if the opportunity can be a creativity boost, because these are priceless.

What do you think about this? how do you decide?