One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.
This is what Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos recently said in an interview with Business Week. He says, “I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do.”
If I may take the liberty to relate this message (which was in fact in relation to queries about his and his company’s approach to innovation) to the present times when recession if the buzz word and layoffs are rampant all over – would that mean when in a layoff it is time to innovate, reinvent oneself or make a move towards independece – towards being your own boss?
Well, all these options sound good but it depends for different situations. A single working mother or the single earner of the family in a layoff does not have many options and the main focus is to find another job as soon as possible, but then are we not falling under the same cycle of affairs? You land another job that helps you meet your daily needs and then get comfortable in it until another layoff, re-org happens or another cycle of recession hits the industry. Of course this is not always true but history repeats itself and if you have been doing what you always have been doing then the chance are that you will be getting what you always have been getting.
The point is not get too comfortable and grooved-in wherever you are. Another reference here to the “Who moved my Cheese?” – “Movement in a new direction helps you find new cheese”, staying where you or just following the same path that you had taken before might not give you different or better results. And also remember that “Old beliefs do not lead you to new cheese. You can believe that a change will harm you and resist it. Or you can believe that finding new cheese will help you, and embrace the change. It all depends on what you choose to believe.”
So if you are in a layoff what are your next steps? Or if you have been in one before how did you reinvent yourself?
On a Personal Note
This post is on some personal reflections as well; in the coming weeks and month I will keep you posted on the New Cheese that I am after. What I share with you is a personal experience —
I had been getting comfortable in what I was doing – blogging on the blogger account for almost two years now; yes Careerbright is heading close to its 2 year anniversary and has risen to new heights with quality readership from all over the world, a good ranking with Google and of course the reputation that Google and blogger are associated with had engulfed me in a comfortable and ‘taken-care-of’ zone. And when you get too snug in your comfort zone you often continue sitting on that comfy bean bag and building your world around it. After all who wants to move unnecessarily or to move towards a change – it takes efforts and change is the scary, unknown territory which one would rather avoid.
One day out of the blue the blog gets locked and I felt helpless – not being able to edit and write posts my own blog – this is outrageous! A couple of days of feeling utterly confused, unsuccessful searching and doing nothing was good enough to drive home the message – If you continue doing what you have been doing might get you similar results time after time. And another message did rounds in my head – perhaps too much trust on someone else prompts you to slip off your shoes and put your feet up.
The point that I want to share is — you will eventually know when to leave the comfort zone and stand on your own, but being aware of the transient reality will help you to be on your feet at all times. Always equip yourself with new knowledge, be ready to move at all times and remember to keep that shoe on. Once you do all these, change is not that frightening after all.
The bottom line is that too much dependency gives you the false sense of security, the earlier you snap out of it the better it would be for your future success.
I shall keep you informed in the coming weeks as Careerbright strengthens still further and learns to be more independent.
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