Trendspotting to Build Your Dream Career
During the dot-com boom in 1998, I read the book, Who Moved My Cheese? It’s the story of two humans and two mice searching a maze for cheese. The lesson of the story begins to emerge when the initial cheese is gobbled up: the mice proceed deeper into the maze to search for more cheese, while the humans stay behind to complain about the unfairness of the situation.
The parallels between the book’s characters and the workforce are pretty clear. Some are- dragged down by despair that their cheese had been moved, unwilling to accept the changing situation, while others remain in cheese-discovery mode, prepared to move wherever the cheese is headed.
When it comes down to it, which side are you on?
In today’s ever-changing landscape, the ones smart enough to keep tabs on where their cheese is going and remain agile enough to move with it when necessary are the ones who stay ahead. It’s about being observant and vigilant. The cheese of work— industry growth projections, organizational structures, career paths, in-demand skills—is moving faster than ever. But the direction of an industry may not be as easily identified as a physical block of cheese. It will take steady research and monitoring to be able to clearly and confidently identify the velocity of your chosen career path.
That’s why the first step of the Fluid Career System is called “Spotting the Trends.” It’s impossible to create a strong strategic plan without first doing your situational analysis. Simply, you need to research the trends in your field or future field to either understand where it is going, so that you can determine where you want your place to be within it, or made an informed decision to pivot away from that path based on what you’re seeing.
When you figure out where the future of your (or your desired) industry or profession is headed, you need to ask yourself these questions:
Is that where you yourself want to be, or is somewhere else a better fit?
Does the new cheese location align with your personal goals? Can you spot where the cheese will land and position yourself there for better gain?
If you spot a trend that means your industry will become automated in two years, do you want to ride out the switch and help manage the new automated industry? Or quickly leap to an adjacent field? Or do something else entirely in a new direction that aligns more closely with your personal goals?
The following is an exercise I developed to help you organize your thoughts. It’s available in Chapter 3 of the book, as well as the upcoming Biz of You course. Take the time to walk through each section and back up your answers will real research. This is foundational to building a strategic plan for your career that is as failsafe as possible.
Remember, this all comes down to the overall concept of learning to be fluid in your career and embrace your career mashup. Fluidity means the ability to seamlessly switch from in-person to virtual, from cubicle to open office. Trendspotting helps you to get clear on which work environments you prefer and best suit the way you operate—so that you can ultimately realize your dream career goals.
Learn more about Spotting the Trends in Building the Business of You.