Career Development Through Forcing Functions
It’s the end of another year and this brings with it a chance to reflect on the year just gone and also plan the year ahead.
Note: This post was originally published on New Years Eve (31st December) 2014.
The New Year acts an annual forcing function and offers a good opportunity to think about boosting your career again but why does it so often require such an event for us to actually stop, think and act on our lives?
Forcing functions are a strange occurance; they’re often the only thing that can motivate people to get stuff done. Think back to the times at school or university when an exam was coming up, were you one of the people who crammed everything just a few days before? Perfect example of a forcing function taking effect right there. And isn’t it a coincidence how some tasks just never get done but then magically 2 days before you’re due to go on holiday you spring into action and everything gets done and you leave yourself a nice clear desk to come back to? Evidence again that forcing functions work. They make us act.
A forcing function is any task, activity or event that forces you to take action and produce a result.
The New Year is a great example of a forcing function that many people use to good effect in all areas of their life from financial goals, to bucket list challenges and in many cases their career development.
When it comes to a career, it can be easy to become a creature of habit, settled in a comfort zone with a never ending cycle. Picture the scenario where you’re no longer growing in your role as the progression is minimal, you’re not being given the responsibility you were hoping for when you joined but you have lost your desire and financially you’re living to your means each month with little room to spare. That’s the downside. But on the upside you’re comfortable with the role and responsibilities, you get along with your colleagues and you’re being paid a nice salary that allows you to live how you like for the time being. It is easy to see how this comfort zone becomes difficult to leave; you need a forcing function. Unfortunately many people in this situation are unaware of the opportunities that might be available to them and hence can’t see greener pastures beyond their current role.
In terms of career development, ironically one of the most common forcing functions is redundancy. Whilst at the time it can be an unfortanate and painful scenario, many people are able use this time to their advantage. The forced break in their usual cycle enables them to take a risk like they have never been able to previously. Whether that’s travelling, spending more time with family, a complete career change or eventually starting that business they have always wanted to. My guess is that you probably know someone that has a great story of how redundancy turned out to be a great turning point for them.
My point here is that it seems counter intuitive for people to need a forcing funciton in the first place to make something good happen for themselves. I guess it’s just human nature. With a career especially, perception could be that it would be riskier to leave and pursue greater heights than it would to stay in the comfort of your current job. However, Mark Zuckerberg famously said:
The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.
With that in mind, career development is so often on the list for New Year’s resolutions, why not make it one of yours too and use this forcing function to make a positive impact on your career?
Happy New Year and I hope your 2015 is a successful one!
I would love to hear any great stories that you have about how forcing functions have helped you throughout your career. Please feel free to tell your story in the comments.
