What is an Opportunity?

0:06 hello my name is oscar ibarra 0:08 and i'm a faculty member in the college 0:09 of literature science and arts at the 0:11 university of michigan 0:12 and also a faculty member at the ross 0:15 school of business 0:16 i will be sharing with you what i have 0:18 learned about what an opportunity is 0:20 based on my research my teaching my 0:23 experiences running a research lab 0:25 and my experiences starting a company 0:28 the word opportunity suggests something 0:31 positive an event that will allow you to 0:33 move forward 0:34 to learn and make your life more 0:36 rewarding and satisfying 0:38 but what exactly is an opportunity 0:41 i will go over four aspects that can 0:43 help you answer what an opportunity 0:45 is where to look for opportunities and 0:48 how to decide that an opportunity 0:50 is promising first of all opportunities 0:52 are many times about other people's 0:54 problems or needs 0:56 although it's natural to think about an 0:58 opportunity it's something that's good 0:59 for you 1:00 opportunities many times are tied to 1:02 other people such as helping others with 1:04 a problem 1:05 they're facing or a need that they have 1:07 by helping someone else solve a problem 1:09 you are providing value to them if this 1:12 is something that 1:12 involves one person or a couple of 1:15 individuals the opportunity is that you 1:17 can develop a relationship with them 1:19 create trust and develop reciprocity 1:23 if the problem or need you're helping 1:24 with involves many individuals 1:26 like creating a product that will help 1:28 people get better work done 1:30 the value you get in return for example 1:32 could be a source 1:33 of revenue in the end an opportunity 1:36 should allow you to get some rewards and 1:38 help make your life 1:39 more satisfying but these rewards won't 1:42 just jump into your arms they reflect 1:44 that you have offered 1:45 something to others that they also find 1:48 valuable 1:50 number two opportunities are assumptions 1:52 that need 1:53 to be tested when we're scoping out 1:55 problems 1:57 or needs that people might have or we're 1:59 considering just what we want for 2:00 ourselves like a new job 2:02 these opportunities are just ideas we 2:04 don't know if they are real or not 2:07 it's amazing that we can envision in our 2:09 mind so many ways to 2:11 make things better but we will not know 2:13 if the idea is an actual opportunity 2:15 unless we 2:16 act to test it and to validate it 2:20 number three opportunities are social 2:23 creatures 2:24 our minds are designed to help us 2:26 develop relationships with others 2:28 if we can't develop relationships we 2:30 cannot rely on others for 2:31 support there are different types of 2:33 social support that are important for 2:35 developing opportunities 2:37 these are informational support 2:39 instrumental or material support 2:41 and emotional support informational 2:44 support matters because other people 2:46 will have different skills 2:47 experience and knowledge maybe you 2:50 haven't come up with an opportunity idea 2:52 yourself 2:52 but someone in your social network might 2:54 provide you with information for example 2:57 about a problem or need that they think 2:58 exists and this inspires you to do 3:01 something about it 3:02 other people in our social networks may 3:04 also have experience in developing 3:07 opportunities themselves so they can 3:08 provide advice 3:10 or they may have resources that they 3:12 wish to invest in your opportunity 3:14 idea finally our close friends and 3:16 family provide us with emotional support 3:19 when we take on challenges in our lives 3:22 like trying to develop an opportunity 3:24 we will likely experience obstacles or 3:26 setbacks and it is these close others 3:28 who can provide us with comfort 3:30 and encouragement at these difficult 3:32 times so opportunities are very social 3:35 we use our social skills to notice 3:37 others problems 3:39 and needs and the people we know and 3:41 have relationships with can provide us 3:43 with different types 3:44 of support that is instrumental for 3:46 developing 3:47 opportunities finally opportunities 3:50 should make sense in terms of resources 3:53 the value we get from our 3:55 activities and from our efforts comes in 3:57 different forms 3:58 the value can be emotional for example 4:00 when we feel good or 4:01 happy by helping someone solve a problem 4:05 but some attempts to help others solve a 4:07 problem or feel the need may take 4:08 considerable investment in terms of time 4:11 energy and possibly money so although 4:14 your opportunity idea might help 4:16 somebody with the problem that they have 4:18 and this could make you feel good 4:20 if it leaves little time or energy for 4:22 your other goals 4:23 or the money that you get from your 4:25 efforts is less than what you put in 4:27 you may not be able to sustain yourself 4:30 this also applies to decisions that are 4:32 more focused on what you want 4:34 to do with your life maybe you have 4:36 grown tired of your job or your current 4:38 path in life and want to try something 4:39 new 4:40 like a new job in a different city but 4:42 in thinking through this you realize the 4:44 cost of living 4:45 is higher where you would be moving and 4:47 that you would have to put in a lot of 4:49 time and energy 4:50 re-establishing yourself and your family 4:53 in the community 4:56 in summary then promising opportunities 4:58 are as much 4:59 about what you want and also what other 5:02 people need 5:03 opportunities are ideas that have to be 5:05 tested in order 5:06 to be developed opportunities require 5:10 relationships with others who will 5:12 support our efforts 5:14 and opportunities should make sense in 5:16 terms 5:17 of your resources 5:26 you