Many of us believe we have a clear career path in mind—a bright, golden future awaiting us. This could be our calling, vocation, or even a rite of passage. We confidently chart our careers, convinced we know what they will look like now and in the years ahead. Each new job or promotion propels us closer to our career goals. Success is often measured by salary, the car we drive, or our job title. After completing school or university, we walk away with the career advisor’s words resonating in our minds about potential paths. We earn degrees and qualifications, setting sail into our professional lives as if we’re the finished article.
So, how many of you have experienced this? How many of you feel your career hasn’t unfolded according to plan? If you feel this way, you are not alone. The theory of Planned Happenstance suggests that this kind of career chaos and anxiety is common and expected.
Swimming Upstream?
Career planning often resembles a duck gliding serenely across a pond; at first glance, everything appears calm and composed. However, below the surface, frantic activity is required to keep us moving forward. There are moments when we feel out of sync and dissatisfied with our work. You might find yourself losing a promotion or ideal job by a whisker. Frustrated, you search for a new opportunity and look to self-help books for reassurance that you’re on the right track. Change looms large, yet you’re left questioning whether it’s part of a grand plan or simply anxiety manifesting.
Goers & Slowers
It’s time for career advisors and coaches to face a truth they often avoid: their own career choices weren’t always made with a solid plan. The traditional approach of matching individual qualifications, interests, and skills may minimise the role of chance, but it doesn’t eliminate it. Advisors prefer clients who seem to be headed in a clear direction—the “Goers.” Conversely, those who reject prescribed paths are labelled “Slowers,” often unjustly categorised as “difficult” or “ungrateful.” This tendency is especially prevalent in schools and colleges, driven by the pressure to showcase success stories. These individuals aren’t difficult; they simply refuse to settle for flawed options from ineffective job-matching software.
Planned Happenstance Theory revisited
To clarify, Planned Happenstance was developed by learning and career theorist John D. Krumboltz. This theory asserts that unpredictable social factors, chance events, and environmental influences significantly shape our lives. Planned Happenstance serves as a robust framework for career development, emphasising that unpredictability can yield invaluable learning opportunities.
Krumboltz boldly states that in career planning, “indecision is desirable and sensible, as it allows clients to benefit from unplanned events” (Krumboltz & Levin, 2004). This theory encourages us to transform unplanned experiences into occasions for growth and learning.
Managing Uncertainty
Embracing uncertainty about goals and aspirations is not just permissible; it’s a positive force that leads to discoveries. This principle is central to the Planned Happenstance theory of career development. Accepting that unplanned events are not only normal but also advantageous is crucial for both our professional and educational journeys. Recognising this uncertainty as a vital component of career planning prepares us to handle the inevitable ups and downs of our careers.
Using Planned Happenstance
A theory is great, but how can we use it? These are the main components of the application of the planned happenstance theory for career development:-
- Help to alleviate anxiety about future career planning
- It’s normal and can be managed.
- Negotiating a career path is a lifelong learning process.
- This is a fluid process and can be used to find your career “sweet spot”
- Make decisions in response to unexpected events.
- The goal is to facilitate an active learning process.
- To facilitate curiosity and promote a sense of excitement about the opportunity
- Encouragement to take advantage of unplanned events
- Position yourself to create future beneficial unplanned events.
(Adapted from Kumboltz et al, 1999)
Making the most of the opportunity
Now then, I am conscious of waffling on and on about a theory that can help you manage the ambiguities of our career swings – the thing is, how do we use it? What I’d like to do is to find out what you can do to get you looking for these opportunities with a few thoughts.
- Start to explore things you are curious about. They may be hobbies, different jobs/career paths, try a new activity, look up that career, job or organisation you are curious about, volunteer or attend a workshop on a topic that interests you.
- Don’t let indecision be a barrier to exploring new opportunities. Try to be open-minded about applying the knowledge to your career and work.
- Be more flexible. Sometimes the opportunities that come our way don’t match our perceived “ideal”, yet sometimes they just might turn out to be great experiences for us.
- Be more optimistic. Assume good things may result from accepting unexpected invitations, attending networking events, etc.
- Take more (calculated) risks. It’s not always comfortable to contact people to ask them about the work they do, apply to a job, or attend a networking event where you may meet important people.
NB: It is accepted that it can be hard for some people to step outside their comfort zone. The key here is the stretch yourself sufficiently to know you are doing something new and novel.
As a result –
- When the unplanned event happens, you take the action necessary to position yourself to get the most from it.
- As the event unfolds, you realise the potential opportunities.
- Reflecting on the event, you create actions that enable you to benefit.
In principle than for those that certainly like, we may have to accept that unplanned events inevitably occur. It may be unsettling to think that chance can influence career choice and life choices, for that matter. The goal is to prepare us for the career development process in which unplanned events are a normal and necessary component. We can take on board that constructive action will no doubt generate more desirable chance events. Of course, we are open-minded and learn to tolerate the ambiguity with our career choices. Moreover, chance events will open up new and novel opportunities we hadn’t planned for.
Lastly………..
Career development practice may have been labouring under an oversimplified theory of plan and implement, which distorts how career choices are actually made. Many career advisors labour under the plan and implement model of career development, missing the opportunity to help people let go of a predetermined process. Worse still, the client is left mystified about the essential steps necessary to advance their job prospects and careers.
So if you have experienced difficulty in developing or even changing your career, it might mean you are just trying too hard to rationalise it. Instead, prepare for events happening and embrace the open-mindedness and change it brings. To apply the theory of planned happenstance successfully, you might have to let go of the should’s, have to’s and must’s that are barriers to new opportunity.
Even if you have a preferred direction you want to head toward, you can stay open to whatever new opportunity presents itself. By that aim, you move toward your longer-term goals and interests. These interests are more likely to “fit” with your values, your work and the business you work in. Planned happenstance theory is not just about good fortune or being in the right place at the right time. It’s more about engaging in active learning, being receptive and open to the opportunities that change can bring to your work and career. So when opportunity knocks, answer it and enjoy the ride.
References
Krumboltz, J. D. (1979). A social learning theory of career decision making. In A. M. Mitchell, G. B. Jones, & J. D. Krumboltz (Eds.), Social Learning and career decision making (pp. 1949). Cranston, RI: Carroll Press.
Krumboltz, J. D. (1996). A learning theory of career counselling. In M. L. Savickas & W. B. Walsh (Eds.), Handbook of career counselling theory and practice (pp. 5580). Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black Publishing.
Mitchell, K. E., Al Levin, S. and Krumboltz, J. D. (1999), Planned Happenstance: Constructing Unexpected Career Opportunities. Journal of Counselling & Development, 77: 115–124. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.1999.tb02431.x
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