Emergent scholarship

Course Lessons

Define your mission

9 min read

Lesson overview

Objective: Identify a pressing problem to focus your career on

Summary: Defining your academic mission means identifying important problems where you can make meaningful contributions. Early-career academics should focus on well-defined “normal” problems, while experienced scholars can tackle complex “wicked” problems that cross disciplinary boundaries. Your mission statement should be forward-looking, connecting your unique skills to larger challenges. This clarity creates the head space needed for sustainable, high-impact work by helping you distinguish between what’s urgent and what’s truly important.

Key habits:

  • Regular horizon scanning: Dedicate time monthly to explore emerging challenges in your field and adjacent disciplines to identify meaningful problems where your expertise could contribute
  • Skills-to-impact mapping: Quarterly, evaluate how your developing expertise connects to pressing problems, adjusting your focus as your capabilities evolve
  • Mission-aligned decision making: Before accepting new commitments, explicitly evaluate them against your mission statement to protect your focus and energy
  • Reflective adaptation: Schedule bi-annual reviews of your mission statement, assessing how evolving knowledge and emerging challenges might reshape your understanding of your optimal contribution

Introduction

Being more efficient isn’t the same as being effective. Without a clear mission, you might work productively but feel unfulfilled. Without a mission, or sense of purpose, you may find yourself working quickly and productively, without the satisfaction that comes with feeling that you’re making a difference.

One way to find that purpose is to focus on a pressing problem. Pressing problems have no simple solutions, require multi-disciplinary approaches, have complex effects on society, and are characterised by complexity. A well-defined mission helps you prioritise high-value work that builds career capital rather than getting lost in shallow tasks that merely fill time.

When you’ve defined your mission clearly, daily decisions become simpler. This mental clarity creates the head space needed for deep work by reducing the cognitive burden of constantly questioning your direction. A well-defined mission serves as a compass, allowing you to navigate competing demands with confidence and focus your energy on truly meaningful contributions.

Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.

Laurence Peter

Finding your problem space

If you’re early in your academic career, consider focusing on ‘normal’ problems—those with relatively clear boundaries and established methods. These problems offer solid ground to build expertise while making meaningful contributions.

As you advance in your career, you might find yourself drawn to what scholars call ‘wicked problems’—complex challenges that resist simple definitions and solutions. These problems often involve ethical dilemmas, competing stakeholder interests, and shifting parameters. They’re messy by nature, evolving as our understanding of them changes, and they frequently span traditional disciplinary boundaries.

For instance, an early-career health scientist might focus on improving specific diagnostic techniques (a ‘normal’ problem), while a senior researcher might tackle healthcare inequity (a ‘wicked’ problem) that involves medical, social, economic, and political dimensions.

Emergent scholarship thrives at these intersections, where patterns and connections form across traditional boundaries. Your most impactful work may arise not from rigid plans but from remaining responsive to evolving challenges and unexpected insights.

Consider these perspectives when shaping your mission:

  • Choose problems that energise rather than drain you—sustained progress requires genuine engagement
  • Start with manageable challenges that provide clear feedback loops for skill development
  • Recognise that your mission will evolve as your expertise and understanding deepen
  • Look for problems where your unique background offers fresh perspectives
  • Consider how your work connects to broader societal challenges, even if indirectly

Remember that defining your mission isn’t about restricting yourself—it’s about creating focus that generates momentum. A well-defined mission helps you navigate the constant barrage of opportunities and distractions that fragment academic attention.

Sustainable mission development

Defining your mission requires balancing ambition with sustainability. The most impactful academic careers are built on consistent, meaningful contribution rather than frantic activity.

Balance ambition with sustainability. Your mission should inspire you while remaining achievable. Consider it a marathon rather than a sprint—pace yourself for the long term. The most sustainable missions create a clear bridge between your unique capabilities and meaningful impact.

Create boundaries that protect your focus. A well-defined mission clarifies what to pursue and what to decline. This boundary-setting creates the head space needed for deep work. When your mission is clear, saying “no” becomes less about disappointing colleagues and more about honouring your purpose.

Build reflection cycles. Schedule quarterly “mission alignment” sessions to assess whether your work advances your mission, if new knowledge has shifted your understanding, and whether you’re maintaining the resources needed for long-term impact.

Connect personal sustainability to mission effectiveness. The quality of your contribution depends on your well-being. Your sustainability practices—adequate rest, focused work periods, and regular renewal—aren’t separate from your mission but essential components of it. The most effective academics understand that sustained impact requires sustainable practices.

Practical examples

Here are some examples of vague mission statements that can be enhanced.

Pause and reflect

Be cautious about advice to “follow your passion.” Meaningful work typically comes from developing expertise that contributes to significant problems, though you should still avoid committing to work you find uninspiring.

Rather than rigidly adhering to predetermined career paths, emergent scholarship embraces adaptability and responsiveness to evolving problems. Your mission should serve as a guiding star, not a constraining box. As you develop expertise, remain attentive to unexpected connections and emerging opportunities that may reshape your understanding of how your unique contributions can address pressing problems.

If you’re struggling to identify a clear mission, consider focusing first on developing mastery in your field. As you approach the boundaries of current knowledge, promising directions will become more apparent. Remember that your mission will evolve. What you write today is a starting point—a direction rather than a destination.

Activity

Key takeaways

  • Focus determines impact: Being efficient isn’t enough—you need a meaningful direction that connects your work to problems that matter. Your mission should guide where you invest your limited energy and attention.

  • Match complexity to career stage: Start with well-defined problems with clearer boundaries early in your career, gradually progressing toward more complex challenges that require interdisciplinary approaches as your expertise deepens.

  • Embrace evolution: Your mission should be aspirational rather than descriptive, looking ahead to where you want to be while remaining adaptable to new insights and emerging opportunities.

Resources

  • 80 000 hours. (n.d.). Our current list of the most important world problems. 80,000 Hours.
  • Peter, L. J. (1982). The Peter principle: Why things always go wrong. Profile Books.
  • Todd, B. (2020). Three ways anyone can make a difference, no matter their job. 80,000 Hours.
  • Todd, B. (2021). Planning a high-impact career: A summary of everything you need to know in 7 points. 80,000 Hours.
  • Wiblin, R. (2019). How can you figure out which global problem is most pressing? 80,000 Hours.

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