Adaption is the process of figuring out how do I continue to do the same thing, even though the conditions around me are changing.

Pivoting is moving toward an end goal, one step at a time, but the movement usually isn’t a straight line, it’s more of a zig-zag pattern, where you move forward, but not directly toward the goal.

Think of climbing a mountain – the shortest way may be to walk straight toward the peak, but any experienced climber will tell you, you can’t get there from here. And remember from the previous post, pivoting is always preferable to jumping!

Consequently, everyone has to pivot in their careers, even if you don’t technically change positions, organizations or roles, the environment around you is changing. Adapting to the change is good, pivoting in the face of change is better.

Nurses adapt when a new reporting system is implemented in their hospital. Doctors adapt when a new medication becomes available, or what is considered acceptable by a society starts to change. They figure out how to adjust their workflow, their schedules and what they prescribe, and accomplish their task. It’s not always easy, but they figure out how to make it work.

Adaptability is an essential skill for every successful worker, but it ensures survival, not progress.

Pivoting is intentionally pursuing experiences so you can progress in your career development.

Pivoting involves change, but the change is intentional. We pivot because it creates new possibilities and moves us toward a goal. If I want to be an Entrepreneur, I need to acquire some core competencies. The way I acquire those competencies can be through pivots:.

• Working in the fiscal office can give you a global overview of an organization.
• Moving into operations helps you learn problem solving, internal communication and balancing.
• Moving into sales helps with external communication and content generation.
• Moving into technology helps with risk management.
• Moving into human resources helps you understand how to find good people, and keep the best people.
• Moving into management helps you learn how to develop people, coordinate and create culture.
• Moving into acquisitions helps you learn to assess other business and assess risk.
• Moving into a CEO position helps you learn leadership, vision casting, perseverance and improve communication.

Now the reality is that it’s very unlikely that you’re going to have a huge role in all of these areas, unless you go down the entrepreneurial role. Then actually you’re going to need to be good at all of them, or at a minimum, be good at building a team so that all these roles can be fulfilled. Odds are that you’re good at some of these ideas, but not all of them (for more info on this idea that you’re probably good at two of the six key roles needed for success, consider this concept from Patrick Lencioni about appreciating limitations).

Trying to move directly into a CEO role would likely be disastrous without other experiences beforehand. This reality is a great advantage for the generalist, as they accumulate experiences across different types of work, they gain an insight into how all the parts function as a whole. But that’s a post for another time.