RW - 007: The Keys To Knowing How And When To Pivot
Welcome to Reimagining Work, where we challenge assumptions about what work can, and should, be in our lives.
Did you know the future of work is about more than just technological advancements?
It’s also about creating healthy connections between people and work that lead to fulfillment and meaning.
So, please join me on this mission of eradicating soul-sucking work!
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In each edition of Reimagining Work, I’ll share content that’s concise and challenges common assumptions concerning the future of work! The formatting and structure are consistent each week with unforgettable segments like:
Perfect Labor Storm ⚡️
Jaw-dropping data and trends around the future of work
Weekly Connection 💡
The most important learning or unlearning from this week
The Prescription 💊
Tips and recommendations
TL ; DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) 🔎
Bullet point summary of key takeaways
The Journey Ahead 🔮
What’s coming soon
Let’s begin!
Perfect Labor Storm ⚡️
According to Gartner, 60% of all new people leaders fail in their first 2 years in the new role showing how challenging the change for leaders can be.
According to Pew Research, around 50 million Americans changed their primary jobs in 2022, and it’s not just front line workers making the change.
A recent Harris poll found that 48% of 6-figure salaried employees are planning to change jobs as well.
And people aren’t the only ones who should be considering making changes. According to Richard Foster (Professor in the Yale School of Management), 40% of today’s fortune 500 companies will be gone by 2028 unless they pivot, adapt and evolve the business.
Weekly Connection 💡
In 2017, I pivoted from my 12 year career as an educational psychologist working in schools to become a tech entrepreneur.
It was both fascinating and terrifying all at the same time.
I had no previous experience or skills in business or technology, but I had big dreams, a supportive wife, and a desire to improve the employee experience for educators.
In the span of those first 6 months in the pivot, I went from being on top of the mountain (including the birth of my second son) to the lowest of valleys seeing my mom suffer and ultimately die from breast cancer. I questioned whether I made the right decision as my world was flipped upside down.
What I can say with certainty is that it was one of the best decisions of my life and paved the way for subsequent pivots I've made since 2017 (i.e., podcasting, business psychology, professional speaking, consulting).
It was like after I made my first big pivot, it gave me the confidence to take on future pivots.
Daniel Pink is one of my favorite authors, and last year he shared research on the human emotion of regret in his book - The Power of Regret.
Interestingly, that research shows that in our early adulthood (through our 30’s), we have a mostly equal number of regrets between what we did and what we didn’t do. But as we get older, the scales tip significantly and what really sticks with us are the regrets about what we didn’t do…or rather, the pivots we didn’t take.
All of this underscores an undeniable truth: pivoting is a crucial skill in both life and business.
The technical definition of pivoting is the ability to change direction, strategy, or approach in order to achieve a desired outcome. And in today's fast-paced, ever-changing world, the ability to pivot quickly and effectively is more important than ever as we encounter obstacles that prevent us from achieving our goals.
In these moments, it's important to step back and reassess our approach. Sometimes, all we need is a small tweak in our strategy, but other times, a complete pivot is necessary.
Consider Instagram’s story. When the company first launched, it was a location-based social network called Burbn. However, the team quickly realized that people were primarily using the app to share photos, so they decided to pivot and focus solely on photo-sharing. This pivot ultimately led to the success of Instagram as we know it today.
So how do you know whether a pivot is needed?
The first step is to be constantly aware of your progress and the progress of your business. If you're not seeing the results you want, it may be time to reassess your approach. Additionally, it's important to stay attuned to changes in your industry or market. If a new trend or technology is emerging, it may be wise to pivot in order to stay competitive.
Another key consideration from the business perspective is your customers. If you're not meeting their needs or if they're not responding to your offerings, it may be time to pivot.
So if we know that pivoting is essential for advancing and growing, why are we so often reluctant to do it?
There are many well-documented reasons, but below are two for your consideration.
One reason is a bias we all experience at some point - the sunk cost fallacy. In short, we tend to stick with decisions when we’ve invested time, money, or effort into it even when we know the costs outweigh the benefits. This can play out by staying in a job you don’t really like because of how many years you’ve already invested in it.
Another reason is the pervasive fear of failure which precludes many from taking risks and trying new things. This shows up as status quo bias which is the tendency to keep things the way they are when the outcomes of new situations is uncertain. This can play out in a failure to innovate products, services, and customer segments. Read up on what happened to Blackberry.
All of this is why we recently had pivot expert and leadership development guru, Andrea Butcher, on Geeks Geezers Googlization so we could tackle this topic head on and offer you the best insights on knowing how and when to pivot.
Andrea recently published a book on pivoting called “The Power in the Pivot” where she shared insights from 50 executive leaders on how they navigated pivotal moments in their careers (personally and professionally).
So as you check out her episode, keep this in mind.
Yes…pivoting is a risk- but so is not pivoting. Choose wisely!
📺 Watch the full episode on Youtube below:
🎧 Or listen to the full podcast episode on your favorite audio platforms:
Here are just a few of the connections Andrea made on knowing how and when to pivot:
You can’t know when to pivot unless you know yourself on a deep level
3 themes emerged from the 52 CEO’s who shared their pivotal moments:
Go big picture
Leverage your relationships
Lean into and stay in the hard stuff
Life is a series of pivots…big P pivots and little p pivots
There’s a downside to pivoting haphazardly. When we cut and run we lose out on the opportunity to grow in some of the challenges
Grit and resilience on their own can lead to burnout. They need to be tied to a bigger picture vision that has a future.
Develop a system that’s right for you to set a future direction that aligns with your WHY
Leadership is about crafting and guiding a vision to a future place
Having the right people supporting the pivot makes all the difference in whether it will be successful
Set goals out further than 7 years because that’s when our mental blocks concerning obstacles starts to fade away
The Prescription 💊
Here are the doctor’s orders for knowing how and when to pivot:
Get Andrea Butcher’s book: The Power in the Pivot
Check out Andrea’s leadership development company: HRD Leadership
Get Arthur C. Brooks book - From Strength to Strength
Get Dan Pink’s book - The Power of Regret
A few recommendations to consider:
Personal
Be open to new opportunities: Keep an open mind and be on the lookout for new opportunities that may arise. Sometimes a pivot can come from an unexpected source.
Reflect on your goals and values: Consider what you want to achieve and what is important to you. A pivot should align with your overall goals and values.
Assess your current situation: Take a step back and evaluate your current situation. Are you feeling unfulfilled or stuck in your current role or career?
Gather feedback: Seek feedback from others, such as colleagues, friends, or mentors. They may have valuable insights or perspectives on your current situation and potential pivots.
Research and plan: Research and plan for the pivot. Learn about the new field or opportunity, and consider the resources you will need to make the transition.
Remember that it is normal to pivot: Pivoting is a normal and necessary part of life and career development, so don't be afraid to make a change if it aligns with your goals and values.
Ultimately, the key is to be open, reflective, and well-informed as you make a pivot. It's also important to be patient with yourself and keep in mind that it may take time to adjust to the new path.
Business
Monitor the market: Keep an eye on market trends, customer needs, and the competitive landscape. Identify new opportunities or threats that may require a pivot.
Analyze your company's performance: Regularly review your company's performance, including financial metrics and customer feedback. Identify areas of weakness or opportunities for improvement that may necessitate a pivot.
Encourage experimentation and innovation: Create an environment that encourages experimentation and innovation. This will help identify new opportunities for growth and potential pivots.
Gather feedback from employees: Seek feedback from employees at all levels of the company. They may have valuable insights into the company's performance and potential pivots.
Plan and execute strategically: Once you have identified a potential pivot, plan and execute it strategically. Make sure you have the resources, team, and plan in place to make the pivot successful.
Communicate effectively: Communicate the pivot clearly and effectively to all stakeholders, including employees, customers, and investors. Make sure they understand the rationale behind the pivot and how it will benefit the company.
Be prepared to be flexible: Be prepared to be flexible and make adjustments as necessary. Pivots can be challenging and may require multiple iterations before finding the right direction
As a business leader, it's important to be vigilant, proactive, and well-informed when it comes to identifying the need for a pivot, and to be able to communicate and execute the pivot effectively. Above all, it's important to be prepared for the uncertainty and to be able to adapt to changes.
TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) 🔎
50 million Americans changed their primary job in 2022
40% of today’s Fortune 500 companies will be gone by 2028 unless they pivot and evolve
In today's fast-paced, ever-changing world, the ability to pivot quickly and effectively is more important than ever as we encounter obstacles that prevent us from achieving our goals.
Not pivoting can have consequences, including major regrets
There are three important themes with pivoting:
Going big picture
Leveraging relationships
Lean into the hard stuff
The Journey Ahead 🔮
On January 25th at 1:00 ET, we're thrilled to welcome renowned organizational psychologist, Melissa Doman, to Geeks Geezers Googlization!
Here’s the link to get a reminder and watch when we go LIVE!
We’re going to tackle creating real and quality-controlled change around mental health at work, not simply performative change that looks good.
In addition to being an accomplished Organizational Psychologist and Former Clinical Mental Health Therapist, Melissa’s also the author of Yes, You Can Talk About Mental Health at Work (Here’s Why And How To Do It Really Well).
She works with companies across industries around the globe – including clients like Google, Dow Jones, Microsoft, Salesforce, Siemens, Estée Lauder, & Janssen. She’s been featured as a subject matter expert in Vogue, the BBC, CNBC, Inc., and in LinkedIn’s 2022 Top 10 Voices on Mental Health.
She has one core goal: to equip companies, individuals, and leaders to have constructive conversations about mental health, team dynamics, and communication in the workplace. To learn more about Melissa, her work, or the book - please visit www.melissadoman.com.
And then on January 26th at 2:00 ET we’ll be joined by talent acquisition expert, Kevin Grossman, to learn the TOP 10 frustrations with the candidate experience from over 200k real candidates.
Here’s the link to get a reminder and watch when we go LIVE!
With companies still scrambling to fill open jobs, you would think employers would have figured out how to create a candidate experience that is not all FCDD* up (Frustrating, Confusing, Disappointing, Distracting.) Unfortunately, the results of the just released 2022 North American Candidate Experience Benchmark Research Report from Talent Board reveals a troubling trend: candidate resentment is on the rise. Kevin will share insights on how to reverse the trend.
But until then, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss these must-listen episodes!
Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways we can help you:
1. Unlock your true calling by discovering your WHY in this special event workshop with WHY coaches Ira Wolfe and Jason Cochran on February 23rd at Noon ET! Registration is limited to 25 participants!
2. Subscribe to my top rated podcast (Geeks Geezers Googlization) concerning the Future of Work:
3. Join our virtual community (Googlization Nation) with fellow business and HR leaders focused on the Future of Work.