Suppose an unwanted opportunity lands in your lap unexpectedly. Maybe it's an opportunity you expressed interest in prior to it landing in your lap.
Either way, when it ultimately presents itself, it's an opportunity you are not really interested in accepting.
Do you just come out and say, "No," to the opportunity?
Maybe that’s what you do. Maybe turning down the opportunity is absolutely the best thing to do.
How about stopping for some strategic thinking first?
Maybe it's best, however, to stop and do a little strategic thinking about the undesirable opportunity and consider one of these alternatives:
- Negotiate to improve the opportunity so it's more attractive.
- See if you can defer it to a time when it better fits your objectives.
- Consider whether there is someone else you can share the opportunity with that would benefit more than you would.
- Separate out the part of it that is attractive and decline the remainder
- Sub-contract the opportunity to someone else.
- Ignore your qualms (i.e., if you tend to over-analyze and look at things too negatively) and pursue it anyway to see how it pans out.
- Make the opportunity work for just as long as you need it to work, and then abandon it.
There are no hard and fast rules about what taking some time for strategic thinking might yield in the way of viable alternatives.
Just be careful of believing you're so smart and self-assured that turning down what seems initially to be an unwanted opportunity will still be the correct assessment after you've paused for a little strategic thinking.
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