Have you ever wondered how you ended up in your current job or career? Was your career path carefully planned with a specific course and action plan? Are you still in the role you intended to pursue when you graduated from university or school? My guess is probably not. Conversations with people often remind me of a career theory that seems to come straight from the academic world—Planned Happenstance. This theory is an approach to career development based on chaos theory, and it has gained popularity in recent years for very good reasons. In essence, Planned Happenstance acknowledges that many individuals struggle to make decisions about their career paths. As a result, they may find themselves sidetracked by external factors that influence their job choices. These factors can include feelings of “stuckness,” family commitments, financial constraints, illness, or not obtaining the expected qualifications, among others.
Different Approach to Career Planning
Planned happenstance offers a different perspective compared to the traditional approach of setting specific career goals and making choices based on those goals. Typically, these goals are defined upfront, and you work towards them in a logical, linear, and orderly manner. In contrast, planned happenstance encourages you to relax the notion of mapping out a perfect, fixed career path from the beginning.
Planned happenstance suggests that a career is something that gradually unfolds, encouraging us to seize unique and unexpected opportunities as they arise. This concept, along with the inherent randomness of careers and jobs, was discussed in a previous post titled “Zigzag Career Paths.” It emphasises the often ad hoc nature of career trajectories over time and how opportunities can present themselves in unexpected ways.
What does it all mean?
The table below offers a quick comparison between the traditional “plan & implement” model and planned happenstance approaches to career management
Traditional Approach |
Planned Happenstance |
| Makes clear decisions for you | Embraces Indecision |
| A logical and systematic path | Understands the future is uncertain |
| Identifies an ideal job/career | Opportunities offered by unexpected events |
| Matches your skills and interests | Driven by curiosity |
| Narrows the choices available | Adapts to change flexibly |
Using Planned Happenstance
Let’s explore the concept of planned happenstance and what it may mean for you. If you’ve experienced difficulties starting your career or considering a change, it may be that you’re trying too hard to rationalise the situation. Instead, try to remain open to opportunities as they arise and embrace the changes they bring. Keep in mind that these opportunities may not align with your expectations or plans. Allow yourself time to explore how these unexpected events might lead you in a new and interesting direction.
This approach may feel a bit unstructured for some career planners. Letting go of a predetermined plan, whether created by yourself or others, can be a liberating experience. Not being confined to a specific career path helps alleviate some of the pressures imposed by institutions and well-meaning career advisors.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you should sit back and wait for opportunities to find you, as that is unlikely to yield results. Instead, actively seek out work that piques your interest, and pursue entry-level positions that allow you to build valuable skills and experience in your areas of curiosity. Collect those essential, rare, and valuable skills through deliberate practice to help you take control of your future work and career path.
Planned happenstance is a perspective that enables you to create opportunities by acting on your curiosity. It involves being open to the chance events that accompany your interests. Rather than just relying on luck or being in the right place at the right time, planned happenstance is about being receptive to the opportunities that change can present.
Here are things you can do to take full advantage of the opportunities brought by chance events:
- Try to become more self-aware and clarify your ideas, think about what your interests are and follow up on them
- Don’t dismiss apparently “odd” or strange (for you) jobs; are they really that bizarre? Consider how you might be able to develop them into something you hadn’t planned for but may lead you toward something interesting. More “how can I” rather than “I can’t because“
- Be positive and don’t dismiss an idea before you have had a chance to think about it
- If things don’t go according to plan, then find a different path and look for new opportunities as they crop up
- Network as widely as possible, especially in the career options that interest you
- Consult a career specialist and ask trusted people for advice
- Look for opportunities to learn and develop new skills
- Try not to worry about views of how things should happen; there is generally never a clear path toward a job or career
- Follow up on your curiosity and take action. Don’t worry about whether you will be successful or where it will lead. If you don’t try new ideas, you’ll never know where they might have led.
Lastly……….
Now, this is just one of many theories of career management and may not suit you. You may be the sort of person who likes to plan everything down to the last detail. However, this may well blindside you to opportunities that planned happenstance may present. Indeed, many of my clients find the framework of planned happenstance a blessed relief. As the overwhelming sense of “stuckness” in their careers can be a result of over-intellectualising the whole business and what they “should” be doing in their work. This theory can go some way to help us sense the malaise of our job choice or career paths. Although by any stretch of the imagination, no theory is perfect, this text presents just one of many theories of career management, and it may not resonate with everyone. Some individuals prefer to meticulously plan every detail of their careers. However, this rigidity might blind them to opportunities that arise through planned happenstance. In fact, many of my clients find the concept of planned happenstance to be a refreshing relief. Often, they feel an overwhelming sense of being “stuck” in their careers, which can stem from overthinking what they “should” be doing in their professional lives.
While no theory is flawless, planned happenstance can help us understand the unease we may feel regarding our job choices or career paths. In conclusion, planned happenstance theory encourages us to be more conscious and adaptable in our ongoing career development, ultimately leading to a more satisfying and fulfilling career. Isn’t that what we all strive for? It can at least provide us with a way of thinking about what we do and why.
To conclude, planned happenstance theory then is all about being more conscious, purposeful and adapting to an ongoing process of career development that can help to build a more satisfying and fulfilling career.
Bibliography
Krumboltz, J.D. & Levin, A.S. (2004) Luck is no accident: making the most of happenstance in your life and career. Atascadero, CA: Impact Publishers
Mitchell, K.E.., Levin, A.S. & Krumboltz, J.D. (1999). Planned happenstance: constructing unexpected career opportunities in the Journal of Counseling and Development. 77, p115-124.
Yates, J. (2014). Career Coaching Handbook, Routledge, London