[Article] “Operations management in high-impact organisations” by Benjamin Todd and Roman Duda

In a nutshell: People in operations roles act as multipliers, maximising the productivity of others in the organisation via building systems that keep the organisation functioning effectively at a high level. As a result, people who excel in these positions require significant creativity, self-direction, social skills, and conscientiousness. If you’re a good fit, operations could be the highest-impact role for you.

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Outline:

(01:29) What does this path involve?

(02:04) Common operations projects

(05:50) Why might working in operations management be high impact?

(06:47) Many organisation leaders believe there’s a shortage of skilled operations staff

(07:15) Organisation leaders report high marginal value estimates

(09:13) Explaining these high figures: why operations roles aren’t easily replaceable

(10:28) Why might operations be especially valuable compared to other roles?

(14:28) Why it’s important for operations staff to share the mission of effective altruism

(20:17) When is it relatively easy to hire people who have less fit with effective altruism?

(21:43) How good is the career capital?

(25:40) How does the career capital compare to working in the corporate sector?

(27:02) Example of someone pursuing this path

(27:49) How to assess your fit

(28:48) What traits do you need?

(35:36) Would a different role in an organisation be better?

(37:33) How to enter this field

(40:12) Next steps

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First published:
March 30th, 2018

Source:
https://80000hours.org/articles/operations-management