How to Fail: follow the plan

I recently had a bittersweet lunch with a friend of mine. It was exciting to catch up with him, but sad to hear his story. He’s unhappy in his current job, but unsure what to do about it. His family is too accustomed to the quality of life his income provides and he is unsure what he would transition to anyway. In short, he doesn’t like his job and has no idea what job he would like. How did he get here? I asked him a series of questions to find out and heard an all too familiar story.

He followed the plan.

Most people follow the plan because it was suggested to them by most people. The plan is this: get good grades, choose a smart major that will get you a good job, pay your dues and soon you’ll have enough “work experience” to pursue what you really want. Too many people choose a job because they believe it will lead to another job. More often than not, they find the “other job” isn’t what they desired or that the path they chose doesn’t really lead to it. Sure enough, the plan leads them right to the position my friend was sitting in across the lunch table from me: nowhere.

Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind and Drive, reveals a simple truth in The Adventures of Johnny Bunko that challenges this conventional wisdom:

There is no plan.

While it may seem that the smart route is to choose safe majors and safe careers so who can afford to pursue safe hobbies, the people you really excel in life are those who’ve made career decisions for more fundamental reasons. They choose to pursue their interests. Certainly, there are risks involved pursuing your interests, like the ambiguity of not knowing exactly what’s going to happen next or where you will be in five years. But there is one thing you can count on:

Whatever you’re doing in five years, it will be something interesting.

Tags: how to fail, pink