The Art of the Pivot
What are the determining moments in our lives?
How do we know them? Are they ends of things or beginnings?
Are we more of less of ourselves once they’ve come and gone?
--Charles Wright
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The notion of pivoting has been a buzzword in business for a while. But how does this apply to us as individuals? Well, just as entrepreneurs can notice what is not working and opt to move in a totally new direction, so too can we as individuals do the same thing.
As David Brookes put it (in part from his own experience) in his book Second Mountain:
“First, we deny that there’s something wrong with our life. Then we intensify our efforts to follow the old failing plan. … Only when all this fails do we admit to the need to change the way we think about life.”
The key to this is the phrase “think about life”. It has to do with discovering greater meaning or purpose through shifts in mindset and intention.
Reflecting on my clients and my own experience with pivots, it’s a combination of:
1) Knowing your true self
2) Recognizing when you are living an incomplete life
3) Being open to change
4) Having the will to become a more complete version of yourself
Many of us have pivoted at some stage in our life, such as changing careers from something we do to something we love, or moving to a completely new area to reinvent ourselves. These are major life-changing events. I have done both of these at various times. At the time these seemed like hard decisions to take, but looking back I have no regrets and only wish that I could have made some of them earlier.
When we are young(er) we are better able to pivot; as we age these decisions are harder to make. There are several reasons for this, perhaps most important that our mindset gets more fixed and our self-image gets more stuck as we get older.
You may be asking yourself, when do I need to think about a pivot vs. shift? A shift is incremental; we are constantly shifting gears, or lanes. A pivot is more radical. If you know deep down that some fundamental aspect of your life is out of balance with your value or belief system, or you have for too long avoided your true passions in life, then you may need to consider a pivot.
How to pivot? Pivoting is not an intellectual thing; you have to find ways to actually get there. In her thoughtful book “Working Identity” Herminia Ibarra writes about the importance of finding ways to experiment with new paths before making giant leaps. This notion of identity is important, as pivots require a shift in the way we think about ourselves.
So what are the steps towards a pivot?
1. Noticing something important is not working and likely won’t in the future
2. Making a conscious choice to do something about it ie decide an alternative path is better than the path you are on
3. Clarifying your forward path in a new direction
4. Taking steps to make that path happen, likely involving some form of experimentation
It needs to be all the above – too often we don’t get beyond the first step. Pivoting is hard because it involves overcoming significant uncertainty; alternative paths almost always appear to be harder at the outset.
Last point; reinventing yourself – like most big changes in habits - isn’t best done as a solo sport; we change with and through relationships and feedback, yet too often the people who know us are familiar with who we have been vs. who we could become.
Interested in a conversation about this? Lets talk……