What are career options for big-picture thinkers with no experience? [closed]

Question

I would rather talk about the best place to put a new restaurant than manage a kitchen or grill burgers.

I would rather examine construction processes & costs, and value delivery to the client than take shovel in hand or supervise a crew.

I would rather discuss the best ways of solving the problem of physical security for a client than write up shift schedules or walk the rounds with a radio.

I feel like I am a big-picture thinker, but I really hesitate to call myself 'visionary' after the negativity associated with that title, and I am not always the one with the 'hot new ideas'. I'm terrible at the detailed, mundane, or ordinary. But sweeping swathes, broad strokes, 'What's the best for us? How can we be better?' there I think I've got talent.

But without the competitiveness or stress tolerance for academia; without a college degree or years of experience; without the talent or network to write a profitable blog; without the funds to be an entrepreneur or consultant; I feel like I am a bit hopeless. I feel like I am out of options when it comes to a fulfilling, challenging career, at which I would excel, e.g. business strategy, or organisational portfolio management, or something like that.

What can I do? Is there something I've overlooked, or part of the picture I don't see?

Thank you all for your help.

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EDIT: I am grateful for the valuable feed back you guys have provided (really gave me pause to think!) But I realize after checking this question the morning after that I have worded it very poorly.

So let me rephrase and see if that helps clarify:

After working in telecom for the past three years, starting from the bottom as a field surveyor/hole digger and moving into a project management position with portfolio and operations experience, and learning a lot about change management, business analysis, organization design, organizational portfolio management, process mapping and improvement, etc., and using those tools for the betterment of the company when/where I could, I have realized that I love theory, quality, and improvement above the daily slog of creating schedules, supervising crews, or taking a shovel in hand, or walking the rounds (all of which I have done in the past, and would gladly do, if the situation called for it, I'm definitely not a 'just ideas' guy).

And I have worked with and for people that all they want to do is dig ditches, carry a flashlight, and create schedules, and that is fine, that is their thing, and their passion; more power to them.

I have found that my passion and focus is at the top level, in improving the organization, in picking just the right projects to fit the organization's values and goals, in looking at how an organization can more efficiently perform some action. And I realize that doing each of those things involves ordinary, mundane, and boring actions that might not be the most appealing, but, big picture in mind, end-goal in mind, I would gladly suffer Powerpoint macros and Gantt charts because I know that my presentation has impact and value, and will help the business and its workers.

I see it in general terms: Quality Improvement, Organizational Portfolio Management, Project Management, Business Analysis - to me, regardless of industry, each of those is the same thing at any company, once you learn the specifics of the company/industry or have the background knowledge of 'this is how we make/sell/buy the widgets and these are the widget-makers'

My issue is this: knowing that that is what I want to do, and is what I love (the abstract, the theory, but both with a grounding in the practical fundamentals): where is a good fit for me, when I don't have the experience, time, or money to get to where I can make those levels of decisions? Am I stuck with moving from industry to industry, starting at the bottom each time? This is the hopelessness I feel, the continual unfulfillment-- we've only got so many years, and you can't have five 20+ year careers.

Answer 1

Whatever you end up doing, please remember two things: ideas/big pictures are valueless without skill and experience, and skills and experience is valuable even without ideas/big picture.

I strongly suggest you decide to gain more skill and experience before you focus on any end goals. Possibly in the process you will see a clearer direction for yourself.

Answer 2

You basically nailed it on the head. Your situation is "hopeless" without being willing to do the work necessary to transform abstract ideas in to material actions. According to your post you have:

• No relevant education or qualifications
• No money
• No talent (other than big ideas)
• No skills or experience

So, your value proposition is:

• Has ideas, sort of. Mostly ideas about their own ideas.

Unfortunately, the thing you offer is generally available by people that they already have on board, and whom they already have an established trust relationship with. What are you doing to answer with when someone asks you "Why?" to your suggestion of a location for a restaurant. What about "why?" for construction processes and costs? What about "What about the building codes, safety legislation, knock on effects of your proposed changes, labour relations, etc"?

For a "big picture" kind of thinker, I don't think you currently have a grasp of the big picture. It's good that you're asking questions about it though, so this is a good start.

I feel like I am out of options when it comes to a fulfilling, challenging career, at which I would excel, e.g. business strategy, or organizational portfolio management, or something like that.

You don't know if you would excel at these things, because you haven't done them. You think you might, but from the working of your post, you aren't (or haven't been) willing to do the work to prove that you can.

Answer 3

The answers given here are good, but I would like to remind you of something: Actual good ideas usually come from experience.

Yeah, you might think you have a great idea the same way I think I can solve a national economic crisis by brainstorming with my father in law while we have dinner. Does that mean that our ideas are good? No. It means that from the point of view of our inexperience, the ideas might seem good. Probably, if we pitched them to someone that had actual experience on the field, they would tear them apart.

That is why, generally, actual good ideas come from experience in the form of education and work. So, to be specific: Can you have a great idea about where to place the next best restaurant in town? Yes, but the seed of your idea is nothing. On the other hand, studies on marketing, GIS, or just having worked for a great restaurant businessman for many years, will give you the foundation to start having your own informed great ideas. The ability to point to a street corner and claim "That would be a great place for a restaurant" can be done by anyone and provides no value.

So I suggest you to pick a field, start slow, learn from the best, read some great books about the topic, and then, if it all works out, in some years people will slowly start listening to your ideas.

People listen to you based on the experience you have. If you have the skills you claim to have, that might take you just a few years, after learning from other great people. If you don't, it will take you way longer.

Answer 4

Necessary warning

I'm German. That's important in 2 ways:

First, I'm going straight to the point. You're not going to like it, but I hope that you can see beyond that and that it will help you (an hour of writing just to insult an internet stranger would be horribly inefficient).

Second, I served a little time in the army and in the barracks cafe, they had a sign with a slogan that I still remember now, over a decade later:

Lerne zu gehorchen bevor du befiehlst.

Learn to take orders before you give orders.

And that's pretty much the core of my answer.

What you are saying

You want to talk about the best place to put a new restaurant. Somebody who had enough experience with managing a kitchen or grilling burgers knows that that decision is made mostly by the future owner.

You want to examine construction processes & costs. Somebody who has supervised a construction crew knows that there is no dedicated position to do that, it's probably just the stakeholders together with the architects - who also need other skills (although this one differs regionally).

You want to discuss the best ways of solving the problem of physical security. Somebody who has experience with the challenges of managing shift schedules (especially in a "zero-downtime" way, managing redundancies etc.) or walking the rounds with a radio will run circles around you in matters of giving realistic advice. There's currently no argument for hiring you over somebody else for these jobs.

Management... maybe.

As others have mentioned, the type of job you are describing is in management, but management is all about managing "the detailed, mundane, or ordinary". You also said

sweeping swathes, broad strokes, 'What's the best for us? How can we be better?' there I think I've got talent."

Well, there's drunk guys in bars who will tell you "If I was a politician, I'd do it better", but I wouldn't vote for them.

Consider the Dunning-Kruger effect. I'm not trying to say "you suck because you know nothing", I'm trying to say that right now you know so little about the respective domains that you don't even know if you'll like it. Consider the possibility that it seems attractive to you because you're not aware of all the difficult details it entails.

Where to go from here

That does not mean you should give up.

Go to LinkedIn and check some profiles of some CEOs or other "big picture thinkers". See how their first jobs were in call centers or flipping burgers.

If you want to end up "discussing the best ways of solving the problem of physical security", then start with a "worker bee" job in physical security. You might even end up liking walking the rounds with a radio - and you'll never know until you try it or something very similar.

Don't try to get into management positions without some experience on the ground first. Even if you manage somehow, you'll end up as a Pointy Haired Boss ("notable for his micromanagement, gross incompetence, obliviousness to his surroundings, and unhelpful buzzword usage") in no time.

Answer 5

I can relate to your self perception as a big-picture thinker. I feel the same way about myself but in most fields, the only way get there is to start at the bottom and work your way up. Unless you come from a wealthy family, have big name connections, or come up with a brilliant business idea early on, there’s really no way around it.

Take some time to explore different paths. Find out what you’re really passionate about and then research the steps necessary to achieve it. Try to find mentors who believe in your potential and can give you guidance.

You won’t love every job you get along the way and sometimes, you’ll probably feel like what you’re doing is a total waste of your time and talent but it’s all part of the process. Learning to handle a lot of different types of jobs will make you a more effective leader. Bare with it and stay focused on your long term plan. I find that it’s helpful to have one year goals, five year goals, and ten year goals. Obviously, these goals will shift over time as you continue to learn and grow but it will help guide your decision making.

Most importantly, try to remain humble. You’re never too good for the best job you can get.

Answer 6

From the examples you listed, it sounds like you'd be great in a consultant or business role.

Keep in mind, though, you have to start somewhere.

You will need some level of education. Ideally college degree, but it can also be self-education = something like The Personal MBA book would be a good place to start. From there, entry-level or freelancing is the only way to do it... And freelancing usually requires some high/specialized skill-set. Look around at agencies near you - Consulting agencies often have a lower entry barrier for roles that are "broad minded" and that's where you're most likely to have a quick path to where you want to go.

One other idea is to learn a skill/topic that's specialized and focused on the strategy. For example, data strategy = ie. helping people use their data in a meaningful way. That's a pretty good place for "big picture thinkers".

Bottom line... Choose a direction & don't be afraid to start at the bottom of the ladder - but ideally pick the type of company or industry that can fast-track you towards a management or consultative role.

Good luck!

Answer 7

You overlooked one "inconvenient truth."

People with "big ideas" which in reality are valueless, because they ignore half the constraints in the real situation, or are just plain wrong, are ten a penny. A few of them have enough self-belief to take money from gullible venture capitalists, or even from the general public via websites like kickstarter, and then watch their pet project crash and burn. The rest don't even get that far.

The key question to filter them out is simply "All that sounds fine, but what have you actually done?" Get some good answers to that question (even if you don't like doing the grunt work!) and then try selling yourself as a "big ideas" man - and somebody with common sense and business experience, as well as money, might take you seriously.

Answer 8

Get a real education. That would be a toolset of knowledge in some field. That would also be a first proof that you can get through something, you can stick to a project and you can accomplish a goal. If you don't have what it takes to get a university degree, why would anyone trust your lead into anything?

Get something done. Anyone succesful with their ideas is succesful because they worked their ass off making them happen. There are no people waiting for some random person to tell their big picture. If anyone wants a consultant, they want someone who has done things succesfully before.

You plan to mumble some sentences, scratch your head and think up the best place to put a new restaurant? You should go for the role of janitor or bouncer. "They should've put the restaurant near the road. A lot more people would come." To make good decisions on the big picture you need a huge amount of knowledge about everything related or you will overlook almost every aspect. Knowledge is gained through education and experience. Preferrably both.

Answer 9

What you explain there is that you have the mindset for management or even entrepreneurship (as in the will and ability to start and lead to success new businesses).

That is great, and is no less useful than using a shovel or a grill fork.

BUT, whatever you do, you need to get the "science" and the "experience".

If you want to do it for hobby, Internet is full of resources about anything.

If you want to do it professionally, any (kind of) formal education is better than no education. For doing proper management, there are many details to have in mind. And even management in itself has many branches, sometimes completely different between themselves. You will hae to decide what kind of management you want to do and in what kind of businesses.

Go where passion takes you to.

Edit:

I just noticed a small "conflict":

I am not always the one with the 'hot new ideas'

versus

But

• without the competitiveness or stress tolerance for academia;
• without a college degree or years of experience;
• without the talent or network to write a profitable blog;
• without the funds to be an entrepreneur or consultant;

Well, those two things are not helpful for anyone, "big-picture" or "small-picture" visionary. So limited to analyzing the conflict, your conclusion tends to be right:

I feel like I am a bit hopeless.

BUT: you do not need to give up! Getting education does not imply necessarily 7 years of university and tens of books published. For the beginning, you can take some "introductory" classes / training just to understand better what management / entrepreneurship is done. You may be even lucky to get the right information in a free class.

After that, you know and understand yourself better, and you can choose a better path for the future.

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Edit of answer after edit of question

I can spot another "conflict":

without the competitiveness or stress tolerance for academia

versus

I have realized that I love theory

Usually, good practice and good theory cannot be built only through personal experience / hobby. Some education / training is necessary.

Of course, not all people are the same. There are very successful business founders who dropped out of college, concentrated on their business, and they were wildly successful.

You now have to analyze yourself which of them are you. And choose the path accordingly.

Answer 10

I agree with other answers but would like to mention something I think you overlooked and other answers didn't address as strongly as I think is deserving: this mindset will be perceived as arrogant or downright disrespectful.

Put yourself in the shoes of a potential employer, they may have years of experience in the field and role and tried many things.

Now some greenhorn comes along and essentially says your ideas are bad.
Despite having no experience or data to back then up greenhorn thinks not only that their ideas are better than yours, but that they are so good that having ideas is the only thing they should do.
While we're at it you as the employer should stop thinking and implement greenhorn's idea instead since greenhorn could use some extra hands because they are unable to do it by themselves.
If all you're good for is the weekly brainstorm you'll be an expensive asset.

Even strategic management and visionary fields require labor to figure out if an idea is worth implementing and how.
Management and consulting can be a gateway into strategic broad-strokes roles but they require decision making under a lot of uncertainty and the labor in those fields is to reduce uncertainty.

Edit after edit

Your updated question does indeed put everything into a different light.
It sounds to me like you are looking for an office job in a consultancy or virtually any corporation that's that's not entirely stagnant and reactionary (plainly said).
You do have to start in the analyst/associate project manager types of roles but if your ideas and realizations thereof are truly worth their salt you shouldn't have a problem climbing the corporate ladder.
Your comment that many jobs are very related in nature has truth to it which is why you shouldn't need to start from the bottom any time you switch jobs.
Especially for the type of person you see yourself as - applying knowledge from semi related types of work can often bring more valuable outcomes than the orthodox thinking so build on that.

Answer 11

In the words of Drake: 'Started from the bottom now we're here'

The same is true in your situation; you need to start low and aim high to achieve these goals. You need a lot of experience, a proven track record, and solid credentials if you want to be the one making these sort of decisions. Every one of the examples you've given has enormous risks attached: causing loss of millions of dollars, closure of an entire business, or even loss of life. You need some serious achievements for anyone to even consider taking your advice in these situations.

I'm not trying to bring you down, or say it's impossible, but it will take a lot of work and learning. First, some sort of education is essential, there are many things you can't learn on the job. When it comes to theory and abstract thinking Academia can give you very valuable tools, as well as teaching you to deal with competitiveness and stressful situations (Actually not a negative, as you portray it to be). Second, choose a field you find interesting and start learning about it. It might take a decade, but if you keep educating yourself and working hard, you can actually get to a position where you make these strategic decisions.

I wish you the best of luck with your endeavors, and certain you can achieve them if you have the drive and ambition required.

Answer 12

Start with skills. Don't lose vision.

Taking my profession, Urban Planning: a profession full of sweeping, big ideas. The greatest leaders and thinkers I've had the pleasure to work with started in the grind that you want to skip. The worst were people with little urban planning nitty-gritty know-how, who were surreptitiously placed in a 'big ideas' position.

The reason for the difference is simple: understanding and communication. The big ideas are only relevant if they can be implemented. This goes for almost any profession. Knowing where the right location for a restaurant is fine, but if you didn't know they're lacking a grease trap and the building is curved (hell for equipment and tables that are regularly square/rectangle), because you've never flipped burgers, then your ideas are not implementable. I can't tell you how many 'great architect' designs were not achievable because the developer never had to draft before.

Give it a try from the basics, never lose sight of your vision. In my profession some choose to stay doing the nitty-gritty, and good one them, and some strive to a management position where they know every detail and use their creative spirit to aspire and achieve great things.

Answer 13

I think we think alike. Ideas are worthless alone. But a mine of ideas is not yet valued. Ideas are worthless alone. However when internet is ready, idea-maker will have a place to show their talent.

I have been working on this for years, I call it #IDEAsPlatform, #UserStoryHub and recently #IDEAsMine for a simpler beginning.

I want to create a place on the web, where we gather the best ideas, there they compete and the most useful ones will come up. The second phase will be finding businesses and open-source savvies who will implement them.

Currently Gitlab and GitHub are only for programmers. But UserStoryHub will be for users, painters, designers. Just imagine it, or dream it, and you have created it.

Answer 14

By the description you are providing you are looking to become a business analyst.

What does an Business Analyst do?

The analyst is involved in the design or modification of business systems or IT systems. The analyst interacts with the business stakeholders and subject matter experts in order to understand their problems and needs. The analyst gathers, documents, and analyzes business needs and requirements.

Project Management, Process Analyst and Business Analyst are relatively close to what you want to do, by what I understood.

However, they are not entry level jobs. I work as a BA and got there through promotions in my previous job. Started in the call centre taking calls, learned the processes, was then responsible for teaching those processes, which lead to improving those processes. After I did a good job of doing it within my team, it was time to do so within the whole company.

Babies do not learn to run, they walk. Do not try to run before you walk, with no experience or valuable transferable skills, you are just a dreamer, but don't worry, you are not the only one...