FLY series · Part 2 of 3
Taking Initiative: Risks & Opportunities
Career Progression · Careers
Video
Lesson video
Members only
Sign in to watch this video.
We’ll email you a six-digit one-time code. You can still read the summary and additional resources below.
Sign in to watchLesson in brief
How to weigh risks, consult the right people, and act on a useful opportunity.
Feedback
Help us improve this lesson
Rate three aspects of the lesson and, if you wish, leave a note for the GuruSetu team.
Your ratings and written feedback are private. Other members cannot see them.
Sign in to share private feedback.
Your lesson ratings and written feedback are visible only to the GuruSetu team. They are never shown to other members.
Sign inPublic Discussion
Comments
Keep comments specific to the lesson. Comments are subject to moderation, and replies are limited to one level.
Sign in to read or post comments.
Comments are visible to signed-in GuruSetu members. Your email stays private.
Sign inSummary
Summary, mindmap and highlights
Act before you are asked
Dr. Aparna Rajagopal and Dr. Aruna Bhargava define initiative as responding to a need before anyone gives an instruction. Under this definition, initiative begins when a person notices and acts on a need beyond assigned work. As the speakers put it, initiative begins where expectations end.
The examples range widely. A couple takes reusable steel containers to a restaurant despite feeling self-conscious. A Ritz-Carlton employee helps create beach access for a guest using a wheelchair. Bhargava describes calling Indian women listed in a US telephone directory after reading about widows in Haridwar. That first contact helped begin work that continued for decades. The right scale for an initiative depends on the need and setting.
Before moving, ask three questions. What constraints may have held this idea back? Does it support the organisation’s goals? Would a partial success still make a measurable difference? These checks support proportionate, organisation-aligned action.
For a proposed redesign of staff meetings, begin with a monthly trial. Use smaller breakout groups, watch what happens to participation and adjust. A sound initiative is often a proportionate first step: notice, check, act and learn.
Concept map
Mindmap
Select a branch to collapse or expand it. Zoom as needed, then export the current view as a PNG.
Interactive map
Use the arrow keys to move through the map. Press Enter or Space on a branch to collapse or expand it.
- 1
Initiative means responding to a need before somebody assigns the action.
- 2
Initiative begins with a need that falls beyond existing expectations.
- 3
A small first step can serve a new benefit or a need awaiting a response.
- 4
Ask what constraints may have held the idea back.
- 5
Judge the action by its contribution to the organisation’s purpose.
- 6
A useful partial result can justify a small trial before a wider change.
- 7
Pilot the idea, observe what changes and revise it from evidence.
Review this lesson
Review
Test yourself with flashcards or write a private note.
Active recall
Answer before revealing the card
Add any card you want to practise. It will appear on the Review page when it is due.
Card
01 / 05
Private notes
Your lesson notes
Write in Markdown, then switch to Preview to check the formatting. Your note is private and is saved when you choose Save.
Save a private note for this lesson.
Sign in to write a Markdown note. Download this note from the lesson or export all notes as a ZIP from your profile.
Sign in to writeFor this lesson
Additional resources
Explore this carefully selected material to deepen your understanding of the topic and connect it with your teaching practice.
Competitiveness Mindset Institute
FLY Methodology
The source programme’s framework for initiative and four related professional capabilities.
Competitiveness Mindset Institute
The Five Critical Skills
A brief account of why CMI places initiative among its core professional skills.
Harvard Business Review
When to Take Initiative at Work, and When Not To
A research-informed guide to when workplace initiative helps and when it may backfire.
OpenStax
Researching Potential Business Opportunities
An open chapter on needs awaiting a response, due diligence, screening an opportunity and taking calculated risk.
OpenStax
Improving the Quality of Decision-Making
Practical guidance on options, consultation, evidence and the longer-term or ethical effects of a decision.