Do we really need a “Plan B”??
I’ve often wondered about that - keep doing what you love doing until you’re not able for whatever reason to do it anymore? Or, develop a back-up plan now, just in case? I’m sure a lot of you right now who are still working are wondering the same thing, too.
Career coach and Merc reader Don Lundgren shared his thoughts with me on the subject. I thought you’d like to see them:
This current economic crisis is unlike any economic crises we have faced in the past. We are experiencing the most severe downturn in our life time, and probably in our parent’s life time. In past economic downturns companies have been forced to make significant layoffs and their former employees have had to search for new jobs. Companies have traditionally offered employees outplacement services to prepare them for this job search.
This current downturn has produced unprecedented layoffs; many jobs are gone forever, never to return. People are out of work for 6 months, 12 months and longer. If jobs are gone forever, continuing to pursue them doesn’t make sense. The severity of this downturn may have also made people rethink their career. They can take this time to “re-invent” themselves and create a Plan B.
What’s a Plan B? Everyone has a Plan A. If you’re employed, it is probably to continue doing what you are doing. If you’re in-between jobs your Plan A is most likely looking for a job much like the one you’ve had in the past. Plan B is what you do when Plan A doesn’t work, or is no longer satisfactory. Plan B is something you should have in place before you need to use it.
Why do you need a Plan B? One good reason is you need to earn money. Putting all your chips on Plan A can be a bad bet; you need a Plan B in case Plan A doesn’t work. If the jobs you are pursuing are gone forever it is also the wrong bet – you need to create a Plan B and make it your Plan A.
Why should your Plan B have meaning to you? This principle was put to the test in a Businessweek bestseller entitled Success Built to Last, Creating a Life that Matters. The authors, Jerry Porras, Stewart Emery and Mark Thompson, based their results on the video interviews of 200 successful people, from CEOs to Nobel Laureates to community leaders. They found that those who achieve true success have found meaning and purpose in what they do. They also discovered that those people in a career that they did not love eventually found themselves losing to those who do. The co-workers or competitors who truly enjoy their work will work harder, think about work outside of 9-5 and be awarded better opportunities than people who only “work for a living.”
What will you do “when it’s time for a change?”
Don Lundgren Don@MyPlanB.org
Don Lundgren has been doing career coaching for over 30 years. He has also successfully implemented several Plan B’s – re-inventing himself multiple times. He has been an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley for the last 20+ years. During that time Don has held both CEO and CFO positions and has founded and run a company. Before his Silicon Valley career, he worked for IBM for 15 years. He held positions in sales, marketing and finance, working both in the U.S. and Europe.
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Nice Post ! I like the following “They found that those who achieve true success have found meaning and purpose in what they do. They also discovered that those people in a career that they did not love eventually found themselves losing to those who do. The co-workers or competitors who truly enjoy their work will work harder, think about work outside of 9-5 and be awarded better opportunities than people who only “work for a living.”
Thought provoking!!!
Most people, after reading the Success Built to Last book or visiting the Success Built to Last Web site, want to know how they can build a life that matters. Via the Plan B Program the ideas in the Success Built to Last book become actionable for you. Take a look at my Web site for some more information http://www.MyPlanB.org.
For many people, the challenge is to find the combination of something they really love to do and also be good at that. You may have great passion for playing the piano, but starting at 50 years old would most probably not lead you to a successful career in piano playing. Plan B, by definition, is thinking outside the box, and exploring things that are not at your current career path. I think that if there was a method to help you unveil your passion, and in parallel help you connect it with your strengths - that could be a winning strategy.
I took Don Lungren’s Plan B seminar in Januray of this year. I was working at Sun Microsystems at the time (13 years), watching the company I once so admired melt down and seeing a lot of my colleges and friends get laid off every few months. Between the time I signed up for Don’s plan B and the day it started, I was laid off myself.
Beaten and disgusted with myself that I had stayed in a dead end job way to long, I knew I had to do something new and something quick. No one I knew that was laid off had found new jobs and more were piling into the jobless market from all over the valley. Looking at high tech job postings on line was even more depressing. The thought of going back into high tech was not appealing, to say the least.
Just over 4 months after I was laid off I opened a restaurant in Sebastopol/Sonoma County (henweighcafe.com). I now live less than 1 mile from the restaurant, work harder than I ever have in my life and love every minute of it.
Nuf said - make a plan B and go for it.
Dennis Kelly (dennis.kelly@henweighcafe.com)
Henweigh Cafe
Sebastopol CA
Certainly a timely post. If the current environment is not evidence and motivation enough to understand the importance of a Plan B, I don’t know what is. I always wonder when I topic is turned into a question, with implied negation: do we really need a plan B? Do we really need health/insurance? I suppose not, at least not until we’re sick/dead. Plan A never works. Plan B probably doesn’t work any better. It’s the iteration of multiple plans with execution that results in workable plan. If you can’t prepare even the Plan B, it will be burdensome to make plans C-Z. What Plan B gives you is a soft landing to make Plan C after Plan A implodes: and it always does. We live in an age often referred to as a culture of confluence. That is, we do what feels good or right…so long as it suits us. This kind of contingency is exactly what makes long-term planning appear less necessary. This is easily reinforced by our limited capacity to have the same reliance on a life-plan that our grandparents had. (eg A person now changes careers a half-dozen times on average). But this is precisely the circumstances to have multiple plans. When Plan A fails, or worse doesn’t fail, but isn’t fulfilling, how will you make a meaningful transition? Else, you’ll essentially float through the disruption, subject to someone else’s plans.
Joshua (joshuasams@gmail.com
Palo Alto, Ca
Don is dfinitely on the right track with his Plan B program. Counseling many laid off attorneys I find that many are forced for the first time to be creative in their job hunt. There are simply few jobs…which has forced many of these highly educated individuals to look at 1) what they really love and 2) where else they might be able to add value. No longer can you find another job where you can just continue to do what you were doing at another law firm or corporate legal department. This is forcing seasoned individuals to do some sole searching and find what is truly important to them both professionally and personally.
Anne Kerwin Payne
Kerwin Associates
Legal Recruiting Firm
Plan B makes sense to me. Having a back up plan generally has been part of my life. There have been times when I had to use it, if only on a temporary basis. It feels good to have it, it feels better when you have to fall back on something and it is there for you.
Another increasingly significant factor is that I am still in high tech but like a number of people I am getting old for this industry, not only by my own standards but by those of employers. I feel like surviving layoffs that seem to be coming annually at my company increases the likelihood that if I am laid off the following year I will be less likely to be able to continue with my Plan A.
Reading your comments has caused me to revisit my Plan B with heightened interest. Thanks.
Although I’ve never used the “Plan B” terminology, I would say that I have employed these tactics in my past.
Out of college my Plan A was to get a job, period, and I didn’t think too much about a Plan B. But, over several years I started formulating plans, and dreaming about possibilities. As the years went by, I began to realize that my Plan A was no longer working for me. There was no bright future, I was often miserable and unmotivated. So, I switched towards Plan B, taking time off to travel, and re-educate myself in a new field. This evolved into a new job in a field (Green Tech) where I am now truely happy (Several Plan B’s in succession resulted in this change). When the time was right, I made the switch smoothly, as I had thought it out, given it time, and prepared for the change. Since then, I’m constantly preparing my Plan B’s, and only concentrate on making the switch when my Plan A is no longer keeping me happy. That’s the key here, if you’re current plan is not bringing you happiness (and I’m talking happiness here, not $’s), you should be thinking about what will.
I think the idea of having a Plan B in the wings is extremely important. I find that my Plan B’s have been easy to come up with, as they’ve always been centered around my passions. They may be high in the sky ideas, but the more you prepare them/think about them/dream about them, the better you will be prepared to act on them when the time is right! Preparation is certainly key!
Being laid off presents an excellent opportunity to implement Plan B! My Plan B led me to an executive operations and finance position with a nonprofit organization that works on environmental issues - a perfect marriage of my passion and background.
After winding down multiple Silicon Valley high tech startups and finally tiring of the stress and instability, I started developing my Plan B a few years ago by asking myself what would I do if I did not have to work for money. I also benefitted from a number of conversations with Don Lundgren as he was developing material for his Plan B seminar.
I investigated the environmental arena, and contemplated taking any position, even if it were an entry level with a fraction of my current compensation. I knew that would not be satisfying for long, and kept refining my Plan.
It wasn’t long before I found my current position. It may seem like simple luck that there was a position at an environmental nonprofit that so closely matched my background and level. However, I believe that by doing the work to clarify my Plan B, opportunities appeared that I would never have come in contact with or would have overlooked.
“Chance favors the prepared mind.” (Pasteur)
Cheers to Mr. Lundgren for pointing out how important it is to have alternatives especially in these hard times. Everyone should have their own Plan B. It’s a backup plan should something go wrong.
Losing one’s job can be traumatic, but it can also be a blessing for people not happy in their current career path and perhaps dreaming about a change. Those people who have thought ahead and have created a Plan B can step right into their backup career. In this case it can be the career they have always longed for but afraid to make the move.
People that have no Plan B and find themselves having to explore a new career clearly have some serious thinking to do. Many companies offer outplacement benefits in which these people can get a leg up, but not all companies offer these benefits. In both cases Mr. Lundgren offers them assistance.
I visited Mr. Lundgren’s web site and his ideas are just what the doctor ordered. Everyone needs a Plan B. Check it out!
A Plan B is a “must.” Or so I found out when I left the PR world for a bit to be a stay-at-home mom, and by the time I was ready to return to work discovered I had become a dinosaur in the industry. Social networking has changed the way PR people do business and unfortunately I don’t “twitter.” Bad news because I’d like (and need!) to work. Good news is I now have been nudged in the direction of trying to discover what to do next — something that can challenge my mind while also feed my soul.
Back in 2001 when I got laidoff from high tech I did not have a plan B. I experienced lumps and bumps keep looking for another plan A and finally gave up after 1.5 years. Reluctantly I came up with a plan B and enrolled in nursing school. Today, I am quite happy that during this recession/depression I am hardly affected job income wise, which I believe had I did find another plan A in early 2000s I most likely would be experiencing lumps and bumps now looking for work. Today my finances are rock solid, employment is concrete, and love life is stable so my last minute plan B has definitely treated me well.
I love the idea of a Plan B. When you are working for someone else, there is no certainty in a job especially during these times. Plan B seems to be more than a safety net though. Having thought through what is important to you and already have a plan during those crisis times makes it less of a crisis and more of an opportunity. Rethinking your own values and then taking charge of how to apply these abilities/talents to a viable job sounds very rewarding and inspirational. I know that I find it very inspirational to be in a position that taps into my creativity. Taking a course that guides me to do this discovery seems to be the way to go.
Don has reflected upon career paths chosen and unchosen for many years. His methodology gives a framework for others to examine and maybe even pursue those uncharted paths for themselves. Don offers a 2-hour workshop at no charge so anyone can dip their toe in the water to see if they can take the plunge into a Plan B. If someone could have outlined a Plan B approach for me 25 years ago, I would have loved having such a guide. As it is, I invented my own Plan B when I retired from being a dental hygienist and became a consumer technology marketing exec and have never regretted it.
Pam Schulz
Los Angeles CA
I agree with Don’s principals around the need for a Plan B. Last year, amidst all the financial turmol and restructuring I and my team got whacked. I really didn’t have a Plan B and have spent almost a year paying the price. As I now plan to begin my new job I also plan to dedicate a portion of my time on my Plan B. I need both a backup, and a means to get me a step closer to my dream job.
It’s funny, when I used to ask people “do you have a plan B?” they did not know what I meant. It seems that the phrase is working its way into the business vernacular.