In an era of artificial intelligence and the race to spread self-driving cars, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in an interview on an episode of CNBC’s “Leaders’ Playbook” scheduled to air Wednesday that the company is not betting on long-term plans.
“If you think you’re planning five years ahead, you’re kidding yourself,” Khosrowshahi said. All you can do is be honest with yourself and your team and “prepare for the possibility.”
Khosrowshahi said he believes his company could have self-driving cars in more cities at some point. He added that Uber is working to make self-driving cars more accessible to consumers through corporate partnerships with companies like Waymo.
But no one knows exactly how long it will take for self-driving cars to become some kind of standard. So instead of spending most of his time planning for a specific timeline, Khosrowshahi spends “60 to 70 percent” of his day prioritizing the “short-term” future, he said.
For Khosrowshahi, that means spending the majority of his time focused on day-to-day details and six-month goals, he said. “As a company, we are always striving to be better in every detail of everything we do,” Khosrowshahi said. “The other 30% of my time I enjoy thinking about the long term.”
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According to psychologists and psychotherapists, it is generally considered good practice to focus most of your time on short-term goals, whether you run a large company or not. Financial psychologist Charles Chaffin told CNBC Make It in on Dec. 23 that ticking off daily or weekly goals will increase your motivation and make you less likely to get discouraged by other commitments.
“Even a year is too far away,” Chaffin said. “You can set a period of one year, but you have to set a lot of intermediate (goals) in between.”
Psychotherapist Amy Morin writes that setting and achieving short-term goals also helps clarify what you actually have control over, a mindset that can help you grow in the long term. For example, Morin says she likes to ask herself, “What did I do today to become mentally stronger?” she wrote.
“There are many things in life that you cannot control, such as the actions of others, unexpected setbacks, and the weather,” Morin wrote. “This question reminds you to focus on the actions you took instead. Instead of thinking about what went wrong, be happy that you were right. This shifts your energy to solutions and allows you to keep improving.”
Khosrowshahi said he may not be able to predict the next decade, but he can prepare his team for the challenge.
“I’m good at developing people. Part of that development is getting to know them, listening to them, putting challenges in front of them and seeing how they do,” Khosrowshahi said. “If they are suffering, you want to help them, but unless you challenge the executives, they will never grow.”
Watch Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi on CNBC’s “Leader Playbook” on Wednesday, January 14th at 10pm ET/PT. All new episodes are on Wednesdays.
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