How to and why to pivot

Companies love to declare they are 'pivoting' but we too need to swivel on our axis every now and then. Reinvent we have to, for our own good, and many of us want to, but don't know how.

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus was known to his contemporaries as “the Obscure” because his utterances were hard to understand. He produced just one piece of writing on papyrus in his lifetime, and only fragments of it survive. But something he said transcended centuries and cultures to become a guiding principle of modern life.

'Change is the only constant' is a dictum that is relevant pretty much everywhere in this complex and rapidly evolving world. So, you have companies 'pivoting' — just as Facebook is doing, for the umpteenth time, by betting big on the Metaverse — sportspersons transforming their games — just as R Ashwin has upped his batting — and fading film stars morphing into much-in-demand OTT actors — just as Saif Ali Khan has.

People like you and me too occasionally need a bout of reinvention for personal or professional growth. Maybe, you have one such goal this year. But what should you know before starting the process?

We are now a fortnight into 2023, and this is perhaps the ideal time to talk about it.

Is it worth the effort?

Debt-ridden and struggling to find work, Amitabh Bachchan resurrected his career by reinventing himself as a television host. Most people would like to believe that they are not Amitabh Bachchan and so, they would never have to think about reinvention.

Let’s face it. Some of us crib about embracing small changes just to get on with life and, sometimes, even to get a little more out of life. But big changes? Why should anybody willingly overhaul the work they do, the life they live, or the way they are if they don’t have to?

This is, of course, a fallacy. Look around, and you will see plenty of change-averse common people stuck in a rut. It is the stagnant senior manager who’s refusing to upskill; it is the retiree who’s bored out of his wits but continues to sit around on his couch the whole day; and it is also the lost teenager who’s getting sicker by the day, both mentally and physically, due to his wayward ways.

So, unless you are hibernating in a cave waiting for the world to change to your liking, it’s impossible to argue against reinvention. It’s a necessity — to survive, to stay relevant, to grow. And, if you are somebody who’s understood this out of so many who haven’t, give yourself a pat. You are going to need the self-motivation.

Nevertheless, it’s not enough to simply make a strong case for reinvention in general. Alongside, ask yourself, critically, why you, specifically, should go through the hassle of a reinvention. The answer(s) you come up with will help you find out if you are really going to be fully committed to the process. Every now and then, all of us feel a bit jaded with our jobs or lives. These are passing phases, and it's important to not be woolly-headed about needing a reinvention, given what it entails.

Also, sometimes, the problem with the idea of reinvention is that it suggests something is wrong with us and we need to become an entirely different person. With this mindset, we tend to let other people define who that new person should be. This is not what a reinvention is meant to be. Rather than learning to be a new person, the trick is to know exactly who we are and what we need to tweak that core for a new reality.

Change is hard. Our brain doesn’t like it

We all know what happens to most New Year resolutions. They fade away from our memories around late January only to pop back around December before the next New Year. Any change — big or small, done willingly or forced upon — is difficult. More so a reinvention, which demands several smaller changes in various parts of our life.

In the mid to late 2000s, Govinda, whose stardom was on the wane, refused to act as a supporting lead. He also failed to get a muscular and chiselled physique, which was beginning to become trendy. To top it all, he continued to keep his dancing style freewheeling as opposed to the methodically choreographed songs that had become a thing. So, Govinda is where he is today.

Seen from the top down, the challenges he faced are relatable. The human brain is hardwired for routine, stability, and fear of the unknown. This is what helped us survive as a species, despite our obvious physical disadvantages. We are also creatures of habit as habits help the brain reduce mundane decision-making activities and divert energy to more complex functions like creativity.

So, when our circumstances change, we find ourselves in a freeze, as if we are walking on a clifftop blindfolded. Like Govinda, we become reluctant to change ourselves in sync with our changed circumstances and instead, desperately seek security in what has worked for us before.

The starting point for a pivot or reinvention should be to know and internalise that it is going to be difficult. This is useful in two ways. It prepares us for the long haul and keeps us ready to deal with the inevitable missteps and setbacks. Also, the awareness that the biggest resistance to our reinvention is going to come from within us can actually help us train our brains to be more accepting of change.

Although the brain's default preference is for the status quo, it has a tremendous capacity for change and adaptation. Scientists call this neuroplasticity. By consistently acting and behaving contrary to our base instincts, we can gradually reorient our brains and tone down our primordial discomfort about change.

The art of reinvention

* Find a tipping point: If you have been simply toying with the idea of reinventing yourself in some way and haven’t actually got around to doing it, you need a sort of imaginary threshold, a Lakshman Rekha, to jump over. We often suffer from inertia even after making up our minds about changing things because we are afraid of the pain of actually going through the change. To put things in motion, you have to use an action or actual event as a tipping point.

So, if starting a home business is a part of your professional reinvention plan, just impulsively buy all the things you need to start the business. Everything else will flow from that. If we are lucky, we may also be served a tipping point on a platter. Say you have lost appetite and taste after a bout of illness. Then use this phase as an opportunity to start the new diet plan you have had in mind.

* Break it down into as many small steps as you can: Think of reinvention as a journey, not an event because events are episodic but a journey that requires sustained focus. Break down your goal into small steps and then create micro plans for each of those steps. For instance, in order to be a healthier you, you would probably want to start a physical activity, shift to a healthier diet, and sleep better. Breaking this down further, you would probably want to go to bed and get up at fixed times every day. Continue this process until you have a whole set of actionable points.

* Seek help and create a support system: All the actions and activities you need for your reinvention would have ripple effects on family members, colleagues and maybe even other people. So, it’s important for you to communicate well and take all parties concerned on board. This step would also make you more accountable.

If you have spoken about your plans, you will try harder because you would be afraid of getting embarrassed or disappointing people.

Midlife crisis or midlife change?

We rarely see the word midlife without the appendage “crisis”. Indeed, this is a phase when most people feel vulnerable and overwhelmed as their children’s teenage tantrums collide with career disappointment and, possibly, marital troubles. So, if reinvention is hard, it must be harder in midlife, right?

The answer is not straightforward. Sure, midlife with all its troubles doesn’t sound like the best time for a reinvention. But it is a phase when we have more life experiences, self-awareness, and self-determination compared to our younger selves and hence, we look better prepared to do bigger things.

In a paper published in 1965, Canadian psychoanalyst and organisational consultant Elliot Jaques, aged 48, coined the term "midlife crisis". Yet, in the 38 years between 1965 and 2003, when he died aged 86, Jaques wrote 12 books and founded a consulting company.

If you are primed for a midlife reinvention, what should you be cautious about?

It’s a given that our lives become more complicated in midlife. There are conflicting priorities and we get pulled in all directions — home, demanding bosses, ageing parents, and more. So, there are bound to be lapses and setbacks. The key is to learn to not just manage these lapses but also be patient with yourself.

The more difficult thing though is to balance workplace and family requirements with your reinvention project. You may be in the process of transforming an important facet of your life but for that, you don’t get brownie points from anyone. You would still have to do the chores at home and tasks at the workplace. Your reinvention project is a solo journey.

After two decades of working across domains — in journalism, technology, and asset management — the author thought how difficult could it be to build a digital edutainment venture. Many missed deadlines later, he is now working harder to prove to himself that he’s not been just a dabbler after all.