The Art of the Pivot: Part I

Dan Houston
Aug 9, 2017 · 5 min read

Imagine if athletes could only travel in linear routes, or if artists could only paint using straight lines. An utterly absurd notion, right?

What’s odd about the entrepreneurial world is that there’s a great deal of consternation and shame around the choice to pivot, or to drop an idea or strategy. One of my rules of thumb is that an idea is late if it’s complete upon launch. Embracing this ethos means that ideas are guaranteed continually evolve in realtime.

The ultimate dilemma of any entrepreneur dealing with a dying or stalled idea goes something like this: “Do I dig in my heels, staying true to the vision and mission I’m floating, or do I pivot and change?”

It’s important to distinguish between micro-pivots (small, intentional adjustments to language and tone such that the work itself transforms), and macro-pivots, which could include entirely scraping your idea for something new.

My most potent personal example includes launching a boutique-style yoga studio that catered to a very specific clientele seeking an alternative to big-box yoga studios. We called it the Mind Tribes Yoga Lab…and, luckily, it didn’t work. I say “luckily” because the process of choosing to pivot pointed us in an invigorating, inspiring, and profitable new direction.

Below are some of the honest inquiries we had to be responsible for in the face of our business being essentially stalled. Unfortunately, we lost time in the interim over-thinking the implications of publicly declaring that our business model simply wasn’t working.

The emotions we had to deal with included: shame, disappointment, frustration, and a mixture of others. Yet, we discovered that these emotional implications were mostly born from our own psyche and self-criticism. In fact, I’d say most people weren’t even aware of our choices to pivot our business, as we didn’t have their attention anyhow.

The following questions constitute a formula we pulled together while navigating our pivot process. Again, I urge you to answer these questions for yourself — regardless of whether considering a pivot, closing up shop, or even if you ARE experiencing growth:

  1. Are you solving a problem bigger than yourself? My wife and I have embraced a practice of inventing problems that are worth living and working for. Our nonprofit organization, In-Powered, is a perfect example — in that, we are taking on the possibility of transforming the lives of educators, such that their schools work peacefully. When you can invent or bump up against a massive problem, you’ll start to align and connect with the authentic “WHY” of your business.
  2. Does your day-to-day work leave you inspired and lit up? Yes, there’s a definite distinction between being depleted and being what I describe as being “thoroughly used up” at the end of each workday. It was only after we chose to pivot Mind Tribes into delivering short-term yoga intensives and yoga teacher training programs, rather than studio-based classes, that we discovered just how energizing daily work could be.
  3. Are you profitable? This one seems obviously, right? Well, we tolerated not making money in the place of not wanting to be wrong, being stubborn, and being romantic about our ideas. If you’re not profitable, you’re likely in the wrong business, you haven’t discovered/invented your purpose, you’re trying to look good, or some combination of the like. So, your options are pivot, close or grind (and potentially have to close, nonetheless).
  4. Have you defined your muse? Segmentation comes through how well you define your customer, as well as your refined customer sub-group(s). In terms of pivoting, one slight alteration to customer description hold the potential to cause a massive shift in your results. With In-Powered, for instance, we moved from offering yoga to community; then to teachers and students; and, ultimately, to offering yoga training and certification to educators (so they could offer their students in-house programs). The result of this customer focus? We discovered our muse, our work became easier, and we were able to streamline our ability to measure our results and impact.
  5. Is your business or idea being called for? This question speaks to the differentiation of your business and product. There are a number of simple ways to conduct market research — implement surveys, reach out to people via Facebook with questions, study online market research. Another more intensive method is to host a pilot project — where you can grow a small sample of customers, invite real-time feedback on the value of your offering, and refine your offering all at the same time. If people aren’t calling for your work, or their isn’t a sense of a need people don’t know they would want, then consider that you’re simply pushing a product with little value.
  6. If you knew what you know now, would you have started in the first place? This is the mother load question, because if the answer is “NO” you’re primed for an urgent pivot — either in mission, vision, strategy, product, or all of the above.

What I like about this formula is that it can be adapted to our personal lives as well. Being an entrepreneur is definitely not a prerequisite here.

The main linchpin for whether this formula is valuable or not is defined by the level to which you’re willing to surrender how you think things and people should be.

Taking this one layer deeper, surrendering would require that you deal with your ego in a way that gives you graceful permission to tell the truth to yourself and others.

For me, this has always started with something like, “This isn’t working…so what are we choosing from here?” By stating what’s not working as a declaration I’ve experienced a sense of ease and release (of shame, fear of failure, and the grip of my ego). To date, my indecision around whether to pivot or not has ALWAYS dropped away in the face of the freedom discovered by surrendering an ill-informed idea.

Considering a pivot in your personal or professional life? In the spirit of this piece, I’m offering complimentary 30-min coaching sessions to 5 separate clients to empower your game.

Email me directly at dan@mind-tribes.com to confirm your session.

Dan Houston

Written by

Co-Founder of Mind Tribes, a yoga-inspired movement empowering leaders to transform how they live, work and contribute. Bringing mindfulness to the workplace.

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