The world is changing, you are changing, change is inevitable (except from a vending machine). So the question is what are you doing about it?  Maybe you need to get into SHIFTWORK.  I have re-defined the term “Shiftwork”.

Shiftwork is the work we all have to do to manage, survive and thrive in the face of a world where Shift Happens.

It derives from our Chaos Theory of Careers (Bright & Pryor, 2005, 2007;Pryor & Bright, 2003, 2007, 2011) that explicitly incorporates the concept of change in its account of careers in terms of complex dynamical systems.

Essentially the chaos theory of careers characterizes the world as a continually changing, complex and highly interconnected place, and humans living within this world are also highly complex and continually changing open systems which mean they are also highly interconnected.  This leads to many different implications including that change is a consistent feature of our lives and that the nature of this change will often not be easily predicted or controlled and may be sudden and disproportionate.

I have identified the first XI shifts we all need to make.  You can find a fuller paper on these ideas here.  These are

1: From Prediction To Prediction And Pattern Making

2: From Plans To Plans And Planning

3: From Narrowing Down To Being Focused On Openness

4: From Control To Controlled Flexibility

5: From Risk As Failure To Risk As Endeavour

6: From Probabilities To Probable Possibilities

7: From Goals, Roles And Routines To Meaning, Mattering, And Black Swans

8: From Informing To Informing And Transforming

9: From Normative Thinking To Normative And Scalable Thinking

10: From Knowing In Advance To Living With Emergence

11: From Trust As Control To Trust As Faith

Want to read more? This is an extract of a paper called

SHIFTWORK: A CHAOS THEORY OF CAREERS AGENDA FOR CHANGE IN CAREER COUNSELLING by JIM E. H. BRIGHT and ROBERT. G. L. PRYOR. It appeared in the Australian Journal of Career Development Volume 1 7 , Numb e r 3 , S p r i n g 2 0 0 8

get it here

 

How do you see change in your life and career? How confident are you in your ability to change or adapt and thrive in a changing world?  If you help others work on their transitions, what techniques or approaches do you use to help others understand, survive and capitalize on change?