Making the Right Move
By: Eric Peterson
Tags: Life, Life Lessons, Decision Making, Family, Personal Growth

Initiating the Move

Ever struggled with timing a move? Most of us do. Life goes by so quickly, we may develop FOMO; the fear of missing out. Fortunately, each new day presents a fresh set of opportunities.

Sometimes leaders shake things up. Other times, they just harness the uncertainty that surrounds them. ~ Kouzes and Posner from The Leadership Challenge

Photo by Tom Parsons on Unsplash

CDP attributes

However, CDPs don’t present themselves every day. One could not classify them as good or bad. We should respect their power. As we do, we can harness their energy to propel us to our next phase of growth.

Examples may include accepting a new job, what to study at university, moving to a new city, our response to a tragedy, an adoption, taking a loved one into our home, or choosing to accept medical treatment for an ailment that will eventually kill us, anyway. A CDP is like a fork in the road; our response will have a lasting impact on our future.

The forced move

It forces much upon us like waves crashing against a shore. The shore knows they are coming at regular intervals, but not always at the same time every day. With as much effort and determination as we may have, we cannot stop them. They keep coming; doing what they were meant to do.

Change can be delivered through external pressures. Many of us can sense it coming. It can be identified by an unsettled feeling inside us spurring the desire to do something different. When we are given the chance to affect our path, we should do our best to pay close attention and choose well.

What do you do when you accept change is needed, but you are unclear about the final destination?

Circumstance may force upon us a CDP. We may experience a tragic life event or encounter circumstances far outside our ability to influence. I like Jenny Blake’s description of a crisis from her book Pivot.

“Certain events happen to us and they require space for patience, compassion, grief, and sometimes therapy or spiritual guidance in order to heal.”

When we get to choose

Recently, I was thumbing through a book by Bob Buford, author of Half Time.

The founder of the Half Time Institute referred to the work of Charles Handy and the Sigmoid Curve. I explored a bit and found the curve offers us a visualization of how we grow and what may happen if we choose not to.

Image created by the author

The Sigmoid Curve

Using the well-known Sigmoid Curve let’s explore how it might offer context in how we manage critical decision points.

(1) Critical Decision Point (CDP)

During our current growth period, we sense it won’t continue indefinitely. Wise leaders begin experimenting by learning something new while on their current path. They lean into curiosity; investigating new opportunities and ideas.

We see this is how some most admired leaders grow their careers by taking what they know and applying their understanding to new domains. It is their behavior that creates the next growth path.

Take Elon Musk, for example. He founded Zip2 which provided a searchable business directory. Compaq purchased it; earning Musk $22M. He took what he learned and formed X.com which later merged with Confinity to become PayPal.

(2) Path-to-Growth

The Path-to-Growth doesn’t typically start out easy. That is because it might mean a new way of thinking, technology, or process to master. You get it.

Learning the new takes extra effort. As we gain our footing we begin our transition from the old to the new; investing more energy in our new endeavor allowing us to leave behind the former.

(3) Growth

We like this stage as we are growing personally and professionally in the new area. As we do, our new work begins to reflect our identity. At the start, we didn’t think we could do it. We thought maybe we were an impostor. Now each day we improve and are seeing ourselves move from apprenticeship to mastery. The cycle repeats. Eventually, the unsettled feeling returns as a new CDP unfolds on the horizon.

(4) The Decline

What if we don’t accept the change?

Whatever we used to do and the way we went about it will fade. Holding on too long we should expect to decline. It isn't too late, but the transition to new growth may feel like more of a leap when we are finally ready. Fortunately, when we successfully make the transition, it will feel like more of a relief. We might even say to ourselves, “Whew! I wish I would have done that sooner.”