Stop Reinventing the Wheel: How to Find Your "Success Pattern"
You’ve had a few big wins in your career: you led a project that got executive praise, you successfully negotiated a big raise, and you even built a strong relationship with a notoriously difficult stakeholder.
When a junior colleague asks, "What's your secret?" what do you say?
If you're like most, you'll default to one of these common (and unhelpful) answers.
The Common (and Flawed) Approaches
1. The "Vague Platitude" (Reactive Thinking)
"Just work hard and be nice to people. That's what I do and it seems to work".
- Why it fails: This is a useless, non-transferable platitude. It gives your colleague nothing to act on and, more importantly, proves you haven't learned anything specific from your own successes.
2. The "One Story" (Deliberate Thinking)
"Let me tell you about that one project I led..." You proceed to tell a 10-minute, highly specific story about that one situation.
- Why it fails: Your story is just a single data point. The tactics you used in that one situation probably don't apply to your colleague's challenge. You've given them specifics, but no wisdom.
3. The "Data Dump" (Structured Thinking)
"Let me share all three stories so you can see what worked..." You describe all three situations in detail but don't connect them.
- Why it fails (subtly): You've given your colleague a pile of puzzle pieces and expected them to build the puzzle. You've done the experiencing but not the thinking.
A Better Way: The Systematic Approach
The true value of your experience isn't in the stories; it's in the pattern that connects them. The systematic move required here is Pattern Extraction.
Instead of telling stories, you must analyze them to find the reusable, underlying framework.
Step 1: Lay Out Your Successes
Place your three wins side-by-side.
- Success 1: Led the project
- Success 2: Negotiated the raise
- Success 3: Won over the stakeholder
Step 2: Find the Common, Abstract Pattern
Look past the surface details (the project, the dollar amount) and find the common architecture.
- What did I do first in all three? "I didn't just propose a solution. I first identified a core misalignment or a problem no one was naming."
- What did I do next? "I didn't go it alone. I got key people aligned before making the big proposal."
- Then what? "I showed results fast. I delivered a quick, small win to build momentum."
- How did I finish? "I made the success visible and measurable, so its value was undeniable."
Step 3: Articulate the Reusable Pattern
You've just extracted your personal "Career Success Pattern":
- Identify the Core Misalignment.
- Build a Coalition First.
- Deliver a Quick Win.
- Make the Impact Visible.
Now, when your colleague asks for advice, you don't give them a vague story. You give them a framework.
The "Aha!" Insight
Success isn't about what you did in one specific situation; it's about the underlying pattern that made it work. Don't just have experiences—extract the patterns from them. That's how you turn your past into a reusable tool for your future.
Your Next Move
This scenario is just one of 12 from the Systematic Thinking Scorecard.
The ability to extract patterns is one of the four key moves of a systematic thinker. To see how you score on this and the other three capabilities, download the free scorecard. It’s a 5-minute diagnostic to find your starting point for a major upgrade.