When the Plan Changed, I Changed With It

Sometimes the biggest opportunities in our careers don't arrive looking like opportunities.

They arrive looking like disruptions.

Early in one chapter of my career, I joined an organization as a Project Manager.

I had a role.

I had expectations.

And I had a plan.

Then I discovered that the application I had initially been assigned to was going to be retired.

The plan had changed.

And suddenly, I was faced with uncertainty.

I could have viewed it as a limitation.

Instead, I chose to learn something completely new.

Starting again when you already have experience

I transitioned into a new technology domain that was unfamiliar to me.

I had to learn.

And then I was entrusted with leading the team working in that domain.

That meant stepping into a space where I wasn't the expert on Day 1.

Again, I had a choice.

I could focus on everything I didn't know.

Or I could focus on what I could learn.

I chose the second.

I learned the domain, took on the leadership responsibility and eventually led the team for five years, delivering multiple projects.

Looking back, that experience taught me something important about career growth:

Adaptability is not the absence of uncertainty.

It is the ability to move forward while uncertainty exists.

Your career will not always follow your plan

We spend a lot of time planning our careers.

And planning is important.

But careers are rarely linear.

Organizations change.

Technology changes.

Roles disappear.

New opportunities emerge.

Personal circumstances change.

Sometimes the path you carefully planned simply isn't available anymore.

That doesn't necessarily mean your career is going backwards.

It may mean you need to change direction without losing sight of who you are becoming.

I didn't have to know everything

One of the biggest lessons from that experience was that being experienced doesn't mean you will always be the expert.

There will always be something new.

A new technology.

A new role.

A new team.

A new challenge.

A new environment.

And that's okay.

Leadership isn't about knowing everything.

Sometimes leadership is about being willing to say:

“I don't know this yet. But I can learn.”

That word—yet—can change how we see ourselves.

Adaptability is a career superpower

When I look back at my career, some of the experiences that shaped me most were not the ones I had carefully planned.

They were the ones where circumstances forced me to stretch.

The unexpected project.

The unfamiliar technology.

The new responsibility.

The changed plan.

Each one added another layer to who I became.

And perhaps that's what career growth really is.

Not simply climbing a predetermined ladder.

But becoming someone who can handle the next version of the ladder.

If your plan has changed...

Maybe you're currently facing a career change you didn't ask for.

Maybe your role is changing.

Maybe you're being asked to learn something completely new.

Maybe you're wondering whether you still belong in the career you've built.

Before assuming that a changed plan means a failed plan, pause.

Ask yourself:

What is this situation asking me to learn?

You don't have to love the change.

You don't have to know where it will lead.

You just have to remain open to the possibility that your next chapter may be hiding inside the disruption.

My plan changed.

So I changed with it.

And that became one of the most valuable chapters of my career.

What has changed in your career that you are still trying to see as an opportunity?

Rise & Thrive Coaching From Surviving to Thriving